Semi-persistent resource allocation for V2V traffic

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an improved semi-persistent resource allocation for a mobile terminal (MT) for transmitting periodic data. The MT transmits information on the periodic data to the radio base station (BS), such that the BS determines the different possible transmission periodicities and/or the different possible message sizes of the data components of the periodic data. The MT receives from the BS plural semi-persistent resource (SPS) configurations, each being usable to transmit at least one of the supported data components. The MT indicates to the BS the data components that are to be transmitted by the MT. The MT receives from the BS an activation command to activate one or more of the SPS configurations to periodically allocate radio resources for the MT to transmit each of the indicated data components. The MT then transmits the one or more data components based on the radio resources and the transmission periodicity as configured by the activated one or more SPS configurations.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to improved semi-persistent resourceallocation between a mobile terminal and a radio base station. Thepresent disclosure is providing the corresponding (vehicular) mobileterminal and the radio base station.

Description of the Related Art

Long Term Evolution (LTE)

Third-generation mobile systems (3G) based on WCDMA radio-accesstechnology are being deployed on a broad scale all around the world. Afirst step in enhancing or evolving this technology entails introducingHigh-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and an enhanced uplink, alsoreferred to as High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), giving a radioaccess technology that is highly competitive.

In order to be prepared for further increasing user demands and to becompetitive against new radio access technologies, 3GPP introduced a newmobile communication system which is called Long Term Evolution (LTE).LTE is designed to meet the carrier needs for high speed data and mediatransport as well as high capacity voice support for the next decade.The ability to provide high bit rates is a key measure for LTE.

The work item (WI) specification on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) calledEvolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and UMTS Terrestrial RadioAccess Network (UTRAN) is finalized as Release 8 (LTE Rel. 8). The LTEsystem represents efficient packet-based radio access and radio accessnetworks that provide full IP-based functionalities with low latency andlow cost. In LTE, scalable multiple transmission bandwidths arespecified such as 1.4, 3.0, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, and 20.0 MHz, in order toachieve flexible system deployment using a given spectrum. In thedownlink, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)-based radioaccess was adopted because of its inherent immunity to multipathinterference (MPI) due to a low symbol rate, the use of a cyclic prefix(CP) and its affinity to different transmission bandwidth arrangements.Single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA)-based radioaccess was adopted in the uplink, since provisioning of wide areacoverage was prioritized over improvement in the peak data rateconsidering the restricted transmit power of the user equipment (UE).Many key packet radio access techniques are employed includingmultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel transmission techniquesand a highly efficient control signaling structure is achieved in LTERel. 8/9.

LTE Architecture

The overall LTE architecture is shown in FIG. 1. The E-UTRAN consists ofan eNodeB, providing the E-UTRA user plane (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) andcontrol plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the user equipment(UE). The eNodeB (eNB) hosts the Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control(MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC) and Packet Data Control Protocol (PDCP)layers that include the functionality of user-plane header compressionand encryption. It also offers Radio Resource Control (RRC)functionality corresponding to the control plane. It performs manyfunctions including radio resource management, admission control,scheduling, enforcement of negotiated uplink Quality of Service (QoS),cell information broadcast, ciphering/deciphering of user and controlplane data, and compression/decompression of downlink/uplink user planepacket headers. The eNodeBs are interconnected with each other by meansof the X2 interface.

The eNodeBs are also connected by means of the S1 interface to the EPC(Evolved Packet Core), more specifically to the MME (Mobility ManagementEntity) by means of the S1-MME and to the Serving Gateway (SGW) by meansof the S1-U. The S1 interface supports a many-to-many relation betweenMMEs/Serving Gateways and eNodeBs. The SGW routes and forwards user datapackets, while also acting as the mobility anchor for the user planeduring inter-eNodeB handovers and as the anchor for mobility between LTEand other 3GPP technologies (terminating S4 interface and relaying thetraffic between 2G/3G systems and PDN GW). For idle-state userequipments, the SGW terminates the downlink data path and triggerspaging when downlink data arrives for the user equipment. It manages andstores user equipment contexts, e.g., parameters of the IP bearerservice, or network internal routing information. It also performsreplication of the user traffic in case of lawful interception.

The MME is the key control-node for the LTE access-network. It isresponsible for idle-mode user equipment tracking and paging procedureincluding retransmissions. It is involved in the beareractivation/deactivation process and is also responsible for choosing theSGW for a user equipment at the initial attach and at the time ofintra-LTE handover involving Core Network (CN) node relocation. It isresponsible for authenticating the user (by interacting with the HSS).The Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling terminates at the MME, and it isalso responsible for the generation and allocation of temporaryidentities to user equipments. It checks the authorization of the userequipment to camp on the service provider's Public Land Mobile Network(PLMN) and enforces user equipment roaming restrictions. The MME is thetermination point in the network for ciphering/integrity protection forNAS signaling and handles the security key management. Lawfulinterception of signaling is also supported by the MME. The MME alsoprovides the control plane function for mobility between LTE and 2G/3Gaccess networks with the S3 interface terminating at the MME from theSGSN. The MME also terminates the S6a interface towards the home HSS forroaming user equipments.

Component Carrier Structure in LTE

The downlink component carrier of a 3GPP LTE system is subdivided in thetime-frequency domain in so-called subframes. In 3GPP LTE each subframeis divided into two downlink slots as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the firstdownlink slot comprises the control channel region (PDCCH region) withinthe first OFDM symbols. Each subframe consists of a give number of OFDMsymbols in the time domain (12 or 14 OFDM symbols in 3GPP LTE (Release8)), wherein each OFDM symbol spans over the entire bandwidth of thecomponent carrier. The OFDM symbols thus each consist of a number ofmodulation symbols transmitted on respective subcarriers. In LTE, thetransmitted signal in each slot is described by a resource grid ofN_(RB) ^(DL)N_(sc) ^(RB) subcarriers and N_(symb) ^(DL) OFDM symbols.N_(RB) ^(DL) is the number of resource blocks within the bandwidth. Thequantity N_(RB) ^(DL) depends on the downlink transmission bandwidthconfigured in the cell and shall fulfill N_(RB) ^(min,DL)≤N_(RB)^(DL)≤N_(RB) ^(max,DL), where N_(RB) ^(min,DL)=6 and N_(RB)^(max,DL)=110 are respectively the smallest and the largest downlinkbandwidths, supported by the current version of the specification.N_(sc) ^(RB) is the number of subcarriers within one resource block. Fornormal cyclic prefix subframe structure, N_(sc) ^(RB)=12 and N_(symb)^(DL)=7.

Assuming a multi-carrier communication system, e.g., employing OFDM, asfor example used in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), the smallest unit ofresources that can be assigned by the scheduler is one “resource block”.A physical resource block (PRB) is defined as consecutive OFDM symbolsin the time domain (e.g., 7 OFDM symbols) and consecutive subcarriers inthe frequency domain as exemplified in FIG. 2 (e.g., 12 subcarriers fora component carrier). In 3GPP LTE (Release 8), a physical resource blockthus consists of resource elements, corresponding to one slot in thetime domain and 180 kHz in the frequency domain (for further details onthe downlink resource grid, see for example 3GPP TS 36.211, “EvolvedUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical Channels andModulation (Release 8)”, current version 13.0.0, section 6.2, availableat http://www.3gpp.org and incorporated herein by reference).

One subframe consists of two slots, so that there are 14 OFDM symbols ina subframe when a so-called “normal” CP (cyclic prefix) is used, and 12OFDM symbols in a subframe when a so-called “extended” CP is used. Forsake of terminology, in the following the time-frequency resourcesequivalent to the same consecutive subcarriers spanning a full subframeis called a “resource block pair”, or equivalent “RB pair” or “PRBpair”.

The term “component carrier” refers to a combination of several resourceblocks in the frequency domain. In future releases of LTE, the term“component carrier” is no longer used; instead, the terminology ischanged to “cell”, which refers to a combination of downlink andoptionally uplink resources. The linking between the carrier frequencyof the downlink resources and the carrier frequency of the uplinkresources is indicated in the system information transmitted on thedownlink resources.

Similar assumptions for the component carrier structure will apply tolater releases too.

Carrier Aggregation in LTE-A for Support of Wider Bandwidth

The frequency spectrum for IMT-Advanced was decided at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2007 (WRC-07). Although the overall frequencyspectrum for IMT-Advanced was decided, the actual available frequencybandwidth is different according to each region or country. Followingthe decision on the available frequency spectrum outline, however,standardization of a radio interface started in the 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP). At the 3GPP TSG RAN #39 meeting, the StudyItem description on “Further Advancements for E-UTRA (LTE-Advanced)” wasapproved. The study item covers technology components to be consideredfor the evolution of E-UTRA, e.g., to fulfill the requirements onIMT-Advanced.

The bandwidth that the LTE-Advanced system is able to support is 100MHz, while an LTE system can only support 20 MHz. Nowadays, the lack ofradio spectrum has become a bottleneck of the development of wirelessnetworks, and as a result it is difficult to find a spectrum band whichis wide enough for the LTE-Advanced system. Consequently, it is urgentto find a way to gain a wider radio spectrum band, wherein a possibleanswer is the carrier aggregation functionality.

In carrier aggregation, two or more component carriers are aggregated inorder to support wider transmission bandwidths up to 100 MHz. Severalcells in the LTE system are aggregated into one wider channel in theLTE-Advanced system which is wide enough for 100 MHz even though thesecells in LTE may be in different frequency bands.

All component carriers can be configured to be LTE Rel. 8/9 compatible,at least when the bandwidth of a component carrier does not exceed thesupported bandwidth of an LTE Rel. 8/9 cell. Not all component carriersaggregated by a user equipment may necessarily be Rel. 8/9 compatible.Existing mechanisms (e.g., barring) may be used to avoid Rel-8/9 userequipments to camp on a component carrier.

A user equipment may simultaneously receive or transmit on one ormultiple component carriers (corresponding to multiple serving cells)depending on its capabilities. An LTE-A Rel. 10 user equipment withreception and/or transmission capabilities for carrier aggregation cansimultaneously receive and/or transmit on multiple serving cells,whereas an LTE Rel. 8/9 user equipment can receive and transmit on asingle serving cell only, provided that the structure of the componentcarrier follows the Rel. 8/9 specifications.

Carrier aggregation is supported for both contiguous and non-contiguouscomponent carriers with each component carrier limited to a maximum of110 Resource Blocks in the frequency domain (using the 3GPP LTE (Release8/9) numerology).

It is possible to configure a 3GPP LTE-A (Release 10)-compatible userequipment to aggregate a different number of component carriersoriginating from the same eNodeB (base station) and of possiblydifferent bandwidths in the uplink and the downlink. The number ofdownlink component carriers that can be configured depends on thedownlink aggregation capability of the UE. Conversely, the number ofuplink component carriers that can be configured depends on the uplinkaggregation capability of the UE. It may currently not be possible toconfigure a mobile terminal with more uplink component carriers thandownlink component carriers. In a typical TDD deployment the number ofcomponent carriers and the bandwidth of each component carrier in uplinkand downlink is the same. Component carriers originating from the sameeNodeB need not provide the same coverage.

The spacing between center frequencies of contiguously aggregatedcomponent carriers shall be a multiple of 300 kHz. This is in order tobe compatible with the 100 kHz frequency raster of 3GPP LTE (Release8/9) and at the same time to preserve orthogonality of the subcarrierswith 15 kHz spacing. Depending on the aggregation scenario, the n×300kHz spacing can be facilitated by insertion of a low number of unusedsubcarriers between contiguous component carriers.

The nature of the aggregation of multiple carriers is only exposed up tothe MAC layer. For both uplink and downlink there is one HARQ entityrequired in MAC for each aggregated component carrier. There is (in theabsence of SU-MIMO for uplink) at most one transport block per componentcarrier. A transport block and its potential HARQ retransmissions needto be mapped on the same component carrier.

When carrier aggregation is configured, the mobile terminal only has oneRRC connection with the network. At RRC connectionestablishment/re-establishment, one cell provides the security input(one ECGI, one PCI and one ARFCN) and the non-access stratum mobilityinformation (e.g., TAI) similarly as in LTE Rel. 8/9. After RRCconnection establishment/re-establishment, the component carriercorresponding to that cell is referred to as the downlink Primary Cell(PCell). There is always one and only one downlink PCell (DL PCell) andone uplink PCell (UL PCell) configured per user equipment in connectedstate. Within the configured set of component carriers, other cells arereferred to as Secondary Cells (SCells); with carriers of the SCellbeing the Downlink Secondary Component Carrier (DL SCC) and UplinkSecondary Component Carrier (UL SCC). Maximum five serving cells,including the PCell, can be configured for one UE.

MAC Layer/Entity, RRC Layer, Physical Layer

The LTE layer 2 user-plane/control-plane protocol stack comprises foursublayers, RRC, PDCP, RLC and MAC. The Medium Access Control (MAC) layeris the lowest sublayer in the Layer 2 architecture of the LTE radioprotocol stack and is defined by e.g., the 3GPP technical standard TS36.321, current version 13.0.0. The connection to the physical layerbelow is through transport channels, and the connection to the RLC layerabove is through logical channels. The MAC layer therefore performsmultiplexing and demultiplexing between logical channels and transportchannels: the MAC layer in the transmitting side constructs MAC PDUs,known as transport blocks, from MAC SDUs received through logicalchannels, and the MAC layer in the receiving side recovers MAC SDUs fromMAC PDUs received through transport channels.

The MAC layer provides a data transfer service (see subclauses 5.4 and5.3 of TS 36.321 incorporated herein by reference) for the RLC layerthrough logical channels, which are either control logical channelswhich carry control data (e.g., RRC signaling) or traffic logicalchannels which carry user plane data. On the other hand, the data fromthe MAC layer is exchanged with the physical layer through transportchannels, which are classified as downlink or uplink. Data ismultiplexed into transport channels depending on how it is transmittedover the air.

The Physical layer is responsible for the actual transmission of dataand control information via the air interface, i.e., the Physical Layercarries all information from the MAC transport channels over the airinterface on the transmission side. Some of the important functionsperformed by the Physical layer include coding and modulation, linkadaptation (AMC), power control, cell search (for initialsynchronization and handover purposes) and other measurements (insidethe LTE system and between systems) for the RRC layer. The Physicallayer performs transmissions based on transmission parameters, such asthe modulation scheme, the coding rate (i.e., the modulation and codingscheme, MCS), the number of physical resource blocks, etc. Moreinformation on the functioning of the physical layer can be found in the3GPP technical standard 36.213 current version 13.0.0, incorporatedherein by reference.

The Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer controls communication between aUE and an eNB at the radio interface and the mobility of a UE movingacross several cells. The RRC protocol also supports the transfer of NASinformation. For Ues in RRC_IDLE, RRC supports notification from thenetwork of incoming calls. RRC connection control covers all proceduresrelated to the establishment, modification and release of an RRCconnection, including paging, measurement configuration and reporting,radio resource configuration, initial security activation, andestablishment of Signaling Radio Bearer (SRBs) and of radio bearerscarrying user data (Data Radio Bearers, DRBs).

The radio link control (RLC) sublayer comprises mainly ARQ functionalityand supports data segmentation and concatenation, i.e., RLC layerperforms framing of RLC SDUs to put them into the size indicated by theMAC layer. The latter two minimize the protocol overhead independentlyfrom the data rate. The RLC layer is connected to the MAC layer vialogical channels. Each logical channel transports different types oftraffic. The layer above RLC layer is typically the PDCP layer, but insome cases it is the RRC layer, i.e., RRC messages transmitted on thelogical channels BCCH (Broadcast Control Channel), PCCH (Paging ControlChannel) and CCCH (Common Control Channel) do not require securityprotection and thus go directly to the RLC layer, bypassing the PDCPlayer. The main services and functions of the RLC sublayer include:

-   -   Transfer of upper layer PDUs supporting AM, UM or TM data        transfer;    -   Error Correction through ARQ;    -   Segmentation according to the size of the TB;    -   Resegmentation when necessary (e.g. when the radio quality, i.e.        the supported TB size changes)    -   Concatenation of SDUs for the same radio bearer is FFS;    -   In-sequence delivery of upper layer PDUs;    -   Duplicate Detection;    -   Protocol error detection and recovery;    -   SDU discard;    -   Reset

The ARQ functionality provided by the RLC layer will be discussed inmore detail at a later part.

Uplink Access Scheme for LTE

For uplink transmission, power-efficient user-terminal transmission isnecessary to maximize coverage. Single-carrier transmission combinedwith FDMA with dynamic bandwidth allocation has been chosen as theevolved UTRA uplink transmission scheme. The main reason for thepreference for single-carrier transmission is the lower peak-to-averagepower ratio (PAPR), compared to multi-carrier signals (OFDMA), and thecorresponding improved power-amplifier efficiency and improved coverage(higher data rates for a given terminal peak power). During each timeinterval, eNodeB assigns users a unique time/frequency resource fortransmitting user data, thereby ensuring intra-cell orthogonality. Anorthogonal access in the uplink promises increased spectral efficiencyby eliminating intra-cell interference. Interference due to multipathpropagation is handled at the base station (eNodeB), aided by insertionof a cyclic prefix in the transmitted signal.

The basic physical resource used for data transmission consists of afrequency resource of size BW grant during one time interval, e.g., asubframe, onto which coded information bits are mapped. It should benoted that a subframe, also referred to as transmission time interval(TTI), is the smallest time interval for user data transmission. It ishowever possible to assign a frequency resource BW grant over a longertime period than one TTI to a user by concatenation of subframes.

Layer 1/Layer 2 Control Signaling

In order to inform the scheduled users about their allocation status,transport format, and other transmission-related information (e.g., HARQinformation, transmit power control (TPC) commands), L1/L2 controlsignaling is transmitted on the downlink along with the data. L1/L2control signaling is multiplexed with the downlink data in a subframe,assuming that the user allocation can change from subframe to subframe.It should be noted that user allocation might also be performed on a TTI(Transmission Time Interval) basis, where the TTI length can be amultiple of the subframes. The TTI length may be fixed in a service areafor all users, may be different for different users, or may even bydynamic for each user. Generally, the L1/2 control signaling needs onlybe transmitted once per TTI. Without loss of generality, the followingassumes that a TTI is equivalent to one subframe.

The L1/L2 control signaling is transmitted on the Physical DownlinkControl Channel (PDCCH). A PDCCH carries a message as a Downlink ControlInformation (DCI), which in most cases includes resource assignments andother control information for a mobile terminal or groups of UEs.Several PDCCHs can be transmitted in one subframe.

Generally, the information sent in the L1/L2 control signaling forassigning uplink or downlink radio resources (particularly LTE(-A)Release 10) can be categorized to the following items:

User identity, indicating the user that is allocated. This is typicallyincluded in the checksum by masking the CRC with the user identity;

Resource allocation information, indicating the resources (e.g.,Resource Blocks, RBs) on which a user is allocated. Alternatively, thisinformation is termed resource block assignment (RBA). Note, that thenumber of RBs on which a user is allocated can be dynamic;

Carrier indicator, which is used if a control channel transmitted on afirst carrier assigns resources that concern a second carrier, i.e.,resources on a second carrier or resources related to a second carrier;(cross carrier scheduling);

Modulation and coding scheme that determines the employed modulationscheme and coding rate;

HARQ information, such as a new data indicator (NDI) and/or a redundancyversion (RV) that is particularly useful in retransmissions of datapackets or parts thereof;

Power control commands to adjust the transmit power of the assigneduplink data or control information transmission;

Reference signal information such as the applied cyclic shift and/ororthogonal cover code index, which are to be employed for transmissionor reception of reference signals related to the assignment;

Uplink or downlink assignment index that is used to identify an order ofassignments, which is particularly useful in TDD systems;

Hopping information, e.g., an indication whether and how to applyresource hopping in order to increase the frequency diversity;

CSI request, which is used to trigger the transmission of channel stateinformation in an assigned resource; and

Multi-cluster information, which is a flag used to indicate and controlwhether the transmission occurs in a single cluster (contiguous set ofRBs) or in multiple clusters (at least two non-contiguous sets ofcontiguous RBs). Multi-cluster allocation has been introduced by 3GPPLTE-(A) Release 10.

It is to be noted that the above listing is non-exhaustive, and not allmentioned information items need to be present in each PDCCHtransmission depending on the DCI format that is used.

Downlink control information occurs in several formats that differ inoverall size and also in the information contained in their fields asmentioned above. The different DCI formats that are currently definedfor LTE are as follows and described in detail in 3GPP TS 36.212,“Multiplexing and channel coding”, section 5.3.3.1 (current versionv13.0.0 available at http://www.3gpp.org and incorporated herein byreference). For instance, the following DCI Formats can be used to carrya resource grant for the uplink.

Format 0: DCI Format 0 is used for the transmission of resource grantsfor the PUSCH, using single-antenna port transmissions in uplinktransmission mode 1 or 2.

Format 4: DCI format 4 is used for the scheduling of the PUSCH, usingclosed-loop spatial multiplexing transmissions in uplink transmissionmode 2.

The 3GPP technical standard TS 36.212, current version 13.0.0, definesin subclause 5.4.3, incorporated herein by reference, controlinformation for the sidelink.

Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS)

In the downlink and uplink, the scheduling eNodeB dynamically allocatesresources to user equipments at each transmission time interval via theL1/L2 control channel(s) (PDCCH) where the user equipments are addressedvia their specific C-RNTIs. As already mentioned before, the CRC of aPDCCH is masked with the addressed user equipment's C-RNTI (so-calleddynamic PDCCH). Only a user equipment with a matching C-RNTI can decodethe PDCCH content correctly, i.e., the CRC check is positive. This kindof PDCCH signaling is also referred to as dynamic (scheduling) grant. Auser equipment monitors at each transmission time interval the L1/L2control channel(s) for a dynamic grant in order to find a possibleallocation (downlink and uplink) it is assigned to.

In addition, E-UTRAN can allocate uplink/downlink resources for initialHARQ transmissions persistently. When required, retransmissions areexplicitly signaled via the L1/L2 control channel(s). Sinceretransmissions are dynamically scheduled, this kind of operation isreferred to as semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), i.e., resources areallocated to the user equipment on a semi-persistent basis(semi-persistent resource allocation). The benefit is that PDCCHresources for initial HARQ transmissions are saved. Semi-persistentscheduling may be used in the PCell in Release 10, but not in an SCell.

One example for a service, which might be scheduled usingsemi-persistent scheduling, is Voice over IP (VoIP). Every 20 ms a VoIPpacket is generated at the codec during a talk-spurt. Therefore, eNodeBcould allocate uplink or respectively downlink resources persistentlyevery 20 ms, which could be then used for the transmission of Voice overIP packets. In general, semi-persistent scheduling is beneficial forservices with a predictable traffic behavior, i.e., constant bit rate,packet arrival time is periodic.

The user equipment also monitors the PDCCHs in a subframe where it hasbeen allocated resources for an initial transmission persistently. Adynamic (scheduling) grant, i.e., PDCCH with a C-RNTI-masked CRC, canoverride a semi-persistent resource allocation. In case the userequipment finds its C-RNTI on the L1/L2 control channel(s) in thesub-frames where the user equipment has a semi-persistent resourceassigned, this L1/L2 control channel allocation overrides the persistentresource allocation for that transmission time interval, and the userequipment does follow the dynamic grant. When user equipment does notfind a dynamic grant, it will transmit/receive according to thesemi-persistent resource allocation.

The configuration of semi-persistent scheduling is done by RRCsignaling. For example the periodicity, e.g., PS_PERIOD, of thepersistent allocation is signaled within Radio resource Control (RRC)signaling. The activation of a persistent allocation and also the exacttiming as well as the physical resources and transport format parametersare sent via PDCCH signaling. Once semi-persistent scheduling isactivated, the user equipment follows the semi-persistent resourceallocation according to the SPS activation PDCCH every PS_PERIOD.Essentially, the user equipment stores the SPS activation PDCCH contentand follows the PDCCH with the signaled periodicity.

In order to distinguish a dynamic PDCCH from a PDCCH which activatessemi-persistent scheduling (also referred to as SPS activation PDCCH), aseparate identity is introduced. Basically, the CRC of an SPS activationPDCCH is masked with this additional identity which is in the followingreferred to as SPS C-RNTI. The size of the SPS C-RNTI is also 16 bits,same as the normal C-RNTI. Furthermore, the SPS C-RNTI is also userequipment-specific, i.e., each user equipment configured forsemi-persistent scheduling is allocated a unique SPS C-RNTI.

In case a user equipment detects that a semi-persistent resourceallocation is activated by a corresponding SPS activation PDCCH, theuser equipment will store the PDCCH content (i.e., the semi-persistentresource assignment) and apply it every semi-persistent schedulinginterval, i.e., periodicity signaled via RRC. As already mentioned, adynamic allocation, i.e., signaled on dynamic PDCCH, is only a “one-timeallocation”. Retransmissions of an SPS allocation are also signaledusing the SPS C-RNTI. In order to distinguish the SPS activation from anSPS re-transmission, the NDI (new data indicator) bit is used. An SPSactivation is indicated by setting the NDI bit to 0. An SPS PDCCH withthe NDI-bit set to 1 indicates a re-transmission for ansemi-persistently scheduled initial transmission.

Similar to the activation of semi-persistent scheduling, the eNodeB alsocan deactivate semi-persistent scheduling, also called SPS resourcerelease. There are several options how a semi-persistent schedulingde-allocation can be signaled. One option would be to use PDCCHsignaling with some PDCCH fields set to some predefined values, i.e.,SPS PDCCH indicating a zero size resource allocation. Another optionwould be to use MAC control signaling.

In the following, further information is provided on how the eNB learnswhether periodic data is transmitted by a UE and when to possibly setupthe SPS configuration.

When a new bearer is established, according to the dedicated beareractivation procedure in TS 23.401, MME signals the Bearer Setup Request(EPS Bearer Identity, EPS Bearer QoS, Session Management Request,S1-TEID) message to the eNodeB. The eNodeB maps the EPS Bearer QoS tothe Radio Bearer QoS. It then signals a RRC Connection Reconfiguration(Radio Bearer QoS, Session Management Request, EPS RB Identity) messageto the UE.

The EPS bearer QoS profile includes the parameters QCI, ARP, GBR andMBR. Each EPS bearer (GBR and Non-GBR) is associated with the followingbearer level QoS parameters:

QoS Class Identifier (QCI);

Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP).

A QCI is a scalar that is used as a reference to access node-specificparameters that control bearer level packet forwarding treatment (e.g.,scheduling weights, admission thresholds, queue management thresholds,link layer protocol configuration, etc.), and that have beenpre-configured by the operator owning the access node (e.g., eNodeB). Aone-to-one mapping of standardized QCI values to standardizedcharacteristics is captured TS 23.203 as illustrated in the table belowwhich is based on the one in TS 23.203.

TABLE 1 Packet Packet Error Resource Priority Delay Loss Rate QCI TypeLevel Budget (NOTE 2) Example Services 1 GBR 2 100 ms 10⁻²Conversational Voice 2 4 150 ms 10⁻³ Conversational Video (LiveStreaming) 3 3  50 ms 10⁻³ Real Time Gaming 4 5 300 ms 10⁻⁶Non-Conversational Video (Buffered Streaming) 65 0.7  75 ms 10⁻² MissionCritical user plane Push To Talk voice (e.g., MCPTT) 66 2 100 ms 10⁻²Non-Mission-Critical user plane Push To Talk voice 5 Non-GBR 1 100 ms10⁻⁶ IMS Signaling 6 6 300 ms 10⁻⁶ Video (Buffered Streaming) TCP-based(e.g., www, e-mail, chat, ftp, p2p file sharing, progressive video,etc.) 7 7 100 ms 10⁻³ Voice, Video (Live Streaming) Interactive Gaming 88 300 ms 10⁻⁶ Video (Buffered Streaming) TCP-based (e.g., www, e-mail, 99 chat, ftp, p2p file sharing, progressive video, etc.) 69 0.5  60 ms10⁻⁶ Mission Critical delay sensitive signaling (e.g., MC-PTT signaling)70 5.5 200 ms 10⁻⁶ Mission Critical Data (e.g. example services are thesame as QCI 6/8/9)

As apparent from the table, QCI value 1 corresponds to “ConversationalVoice”, i.e., Voice over IP (VoIP). When eNB receives “Bearer SetupRequest” message with QCI value 1, eNB knows that this bearer isestablished for VoIP and an SPS configuration could be applied toallocate periodic resources for the UE to transmit the VoIP data.

LTE Device to Device (D2D) Proximity Services (ProSe)

Proximity-based applications and services represent an emergingsocial-technological trend. The identified areas include servicesrelated to commercial services and Public Safety that would be ofinterest to operators and users. The introduction of a ProximityServices (ProSe) capability in LTE would allow the 3GPP industry toserve this developing market and will, at the same time, serve theurgent needs of several Public Safety communities that are jointlycommitted to LTE.

Device-to-Device (D2D) communication is a technology componentintroduced by LTE-Rel.12, which allows D2D as an underlay to thecellular network to increase the spectral efficiency. For example, ifthe cellular network is LTE, all data-carrying physical channels useSC-FDMA for D2D signaling. In D2D communications, user equipmentstransmit data signals to each other over a direct link using thecellular resources instead of through the radio base station. Throughoutthe disclosure the terms “D2D”, “ProSe” and “sidelink” areinterchangeable.

The D2D communication in LTE is focusing on two areas: Discovery andCommunication.

ProSe (Proximity-based Services) Direct Discovery is defined as theprocedure used by the ProSe-enabled UE to discover other ProSe-enabledUE(s) in its proximity using E-UTRA direct radio signals via the PC5interface.

In D2D communication, UEs transmit data signals to each other over adirect link using the cellular resources instead of through the basestation (BS). D2D users communicate directly while remaining controlledunder the BS, i.e., at least when being in coverage of an eNB.Therefore, D2D can improve system performance by reusing cellularresources.

It is assumed that D2D operates in the uplink LTE spectrum (in the caseof FDD) or uplink sub-frames of the cell giving coverage (in case ofTDD, except when out of coverage). Furthermore, D2Dtransmission/reception does not use full duplex on a given carrier. Fromindividual UE perspective, on a given carrier D2D signal reception andLTE uplink transmission do not use full duplex, i.e., no simultaneousD2D signal reception and LTE UL transmission is possible.

In D2D communication, when one particular UE1 has a role of transmission(transmitting user equipment or transmitting terminal), UE1 sends data,and another UE2 (receiving user equipment) receives it. UE1 and UE2 canchange their transmission and reception role. The transmission from UE1can be received by one or more UEs like UE2.

ProSe Direct Communication Layer-2 Link

In brief, ProSe direct one-to-one communication is realized byestablishing a secure layer-2 link over PC5 between two UEs. Each UE hasa Layer-2 ID for unicast communication that is included in the SourceLayer-2 ID field of every frame that it sends on the layer-2 link and inthe Destination Layer-2 ID of every frame that it receives on thelayer-2 link. The UE needs to ensure that the Layer-2 ID for unicastcommunication is at least locally unique. So the UE should be preparedto handle Layer-2 ID conflicts with adjacent UEs using unspecifiedmechanisms (e.g., self-assign a new Layer-2 ID for unicast communicationwhen a conflict is detected). The layer-2 link for ProSe directcommunication one-to-one is identified by the combination of the Layer-2IDs of the two UEs. This means that the UE can engage in multiplelayer-2 links for ProSe direct communication one-to-one using the sameLayer-2 ID.

ProSe direct communication one-to-one is composed of the followingprocedures as explained in detail in TR 23.713 current version v13.0.0section 7.1.2 incorporated herein by reference:

-   -   Establishment of a secure layer-2 link over PC5.    -   IP address/prefix assignment.    -   Layer-2 link maintenance over PC5.    -   Layer-2 link release over PC5.

FIG. 3 illustrates how to establish a secure layer-2 link over the PC5interface.

1. UE-1 sends a Direct Communication Request message to UE-2 in order totrigger mutual authentication. The link initiator (UE-1) needs to knowthe Layer-2 ID of the peer (UE-2) in order to perform step 1. As anexample, the link initiator may learn the Layer-2 ID of the peer byexecuting a discovery procedure first or by having participated in ProSeone-to-many communication including the peer.

2. UE-2 initiates the procedure for mutual authentication. Thesuccessful completion of the authentication procedure completes theestablishment of the secure layer-2 link over PC5.

UEs engaging in isolated (non-relay) one-to-one communication may alsouse link-local addresses. The PC5 Signaling Protocol shall supportkeep-alive functionality that is used to detect when the UEs are not inProSe Communication range, so that they can proceed with implicitlayer-2 link release. The Layer-2 link release over the PC5 can beperformed by using a Disconnect Request message transmitted to the otherUE, which also deletes all associated context data. Upon reception ofthe Disconnect Request message, the other UE responds with a DisconnectResponse message and deletes all context data associated with thelayer-2 link.

ProSe Direct Communication Related Identities

3GPP TS 36.300, current version 13.2.0, defines in subclause 8.3 thefollowing identities to use for ProSe Direct Communication:

SL-RNTI: Unique identification used for ProSe Direct CommunicationScheduling;

Source Layer-2 ID: Identifies the sender of the data in sidelink ProSeDirect Communication. The Source Layer-2 ID is 24 bits long and is usedtogether with ProSe Layer-2 Destination ID and LCID for identificationof the RLC UM entity and PDCP entity in the receiver;

Destination Layer-2 ID: Identifies the target of the data in sidelinkProSe Direct Communication. The Destination Layer-2 ID is 24 bits longand is split in the MAC layer into two bit strings:

One bit string is the LSB part (8 bits) of Destination Layer-2 ID andforwarded to the physical layer as Sidelink Control Layer-1 ID. Thisidentifies the target of the intended data in Sidelink Control and isused for filtering packets at the physical layer.

Second bit string is the MSB part (16 bits) of the Destination Layer-2ID and is carried within the MAC header. This is used for filteringpackets at the MAC layer.

No Access Stratum signaling is required for group formation and toconfigure Source Layer-2 ID, Destination Layer-2 ID and Sidelink ControlL1 ID in the UE. These identities are either provided by a higher layeror derived from identities provided by a higher layer. In case ofgroupcast and broadcast, the ProSe UE ID provided by the higher layer isused directly as the Source Layer-2 ID, and the ProSe Layer-2 Group IDprovided by the higher layer is used directly as the Destination Layer-2ID in the MAC layer. In case of one-to-one communications, higher layerprovides Source Layer-2 ID and Destination Layer-2 ID.

Radio Resource Allocation for Proximity Services

From the perspective of a transmitting UE, a Proximity-Services-enabledUE (ProSe-enabled UE) can operate in two modes for resource allocation:

Mode 1 refers to the eNB-scheduled resource allocation, where the UErequests transmission resources from the eNB (or Release-10 relay node),and the eNodeB (or Release-10 relay node) in turn schedules theresources used by a UE to transmit direct data and direct controlinformation (e.g., Scheduling Assignment). The UE needs to beRRC_CONNECTED in order to transmit data. In particular, the UE sends ascheduling request (D-SR or Random Access) to the eNB followed by abuffer status report (BSR) in the usual manner (see also followingchapter “Transmission procedure for D2D communication”). Based on theBSR, the eNB can determine that the UE has data for a ProSe DirectCommunication transmission and can estimate the resources needed fortransmission.

On the other hand, Mode 2 refers to the UE-autonomous resourceselection, where a UE on its own selects resources (time and frequency)from resource pool(s) to transmit direct data and direct controlinformation (i.e., SA). One resource pool is defined e.g., by thecontent of SIB18, namely by the field commTxPoolNormalCommon, thisparticular resource pool being broadcast in the cell and then commonlyavailable for all UEs in the cell still in RRC_Idle state. Effectively,the eNB may define up to four different instances of said pool,respectively four resource pools for the transmission of SA messages anddirect data. However, in Rel-12 a UE shall always use the first resourcepool defined in the list, even if it was configured with multipleresource pools. This restriction was removed for Rel-13, i.e., a UE cantransmit on multiple of the configured resource pools within one SCperiod. How the UE selects the resource pools for transmission isfurther outlined below (further specified in TS36.321).

As an alternative, another resource pool can be defined by the eNB andsignaled in SIB18, namely by using the field commTxPoolExceptional,which can be used by the UEs in exceptional cases.

What resource allocation mode a UE is going to use is configurable bythe eNB. Furthermore, what resource allocation mode a UE is going to usefor D2D data communication may also depend on the RRC state, i.e.,RRC_IDLE or RRC_CONNECTED, and the coverage state of the UE, i.e.,in-coverage, out-of-coverage. A UE is considered in-coverage if it has aserving cell (i.e., the UE is RRC_CONNECTED or is camping on a cell inRRC_IDLE).

The following rules with respect to the resource allocation mode applyfor the UE:

-   -   If the UE is out-of-coverage, it can only use Mode 2;    -   If the UE is in-coverage, it may use Mode 1 if the eNB        configures it accordingly;    -   If the UE is in-coverage, it may use Mode 2 if the eNB        configures it accordingly;    -   When there are no exceptional conditions, UE may change from        Mode 1 to Mode 2 or vice-versa only if it is configured by eNB        to do so. If the UE is in-coverage, it shall use only the mode        indicated by eNB configuration unless one of the exceptional        cases occurs;        -   The UE considers itself to be in exceptional conditions            e.g., while T311 or T301 is running;    -   When an exceptional case occurs the UE is allowed to use Mode 2        temporarily even though it was configured to use Mode 1.

While being in the coverage area of an E-UTRA cell, the UE shall performProSe Direct Communication Transmission on the UL carrier only on theresources assigned by that cell, even if resources of that carrier havebeen pre-configured, e.g., in UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card).

For UEs in RRC_IDLE the eNB may select one of the following options:

-   -   The eNB may provide a Mode 2 transmission resource pool in SIB.        UEs that are authorized for ProSe Direct Communication use these        resources for ProSe Direct Communication in RRC_IDLE;    -   The eNB may indicate in SIB that it supports D2D but does not        provide resources for ProSe Direct Communication. UEs need to        enter RRC_CONNECTED to perform ProSe Direct Communication        transmission.

For UEs in RRC_CONNECTED:

-   -   A UE in RRC_CONNECTED that is authorized to perform ProSe Direct        Communication transmission, indicates to the eNB that it wants        to perform ProSe Direct Communication transmissions when it        needs to perform ProSe Direct Communication transmission;    -   The eNB validates whether the UE in RRC_CONNECTED is authorized        for ProSe Direct Communication transmission using the UE context        received from MME;    -   The eNB may configure a UE in RRC_CONNECTED by dedicated        signaling with a Mode-2 resource allocation transmission        resource pool that may be used without constraints while the UE        is RRC_CONNECTED. Alternatively, the eNB may configure a UE in        RRC_CONNECTED by dedicated signaling with a Mode 2 resource        allocation transmission resource pool which the UE is allowed to        use only in exceptional cases and rely on Mode 1 otherwise.

The resource pool for Scheduling Assignment when the UE is out ofcoverage can be configured as below:

-   -   The resource pool used for reception is pre-configured.    -   The resource pool used for transmission is pre-configured.

The resource pool for Scheduling Assignment when the UE is in coveragecan be configured as below:

-   -   The resource pool used for reception is configured by the eNB        via RRC, in dedicated or broadcast signaling.    -   The resource pool used for transmission is configured by the eNB        via RRC if Mode 2 resource allocation is used    -   The SCI (Sidelink Control Information) resource pool (also        referred to as Scheduling Assignment, SA, resource pool) used        for transmission is not known to the UE if Mode 1 resource        allocation is used.    -   The eNB schedules the specific resource(s) to use for Sidelink        Control Information (Scheduling Assignment) transmission if Mode        1 resource allocation is used. The specific resource assigned by        the eNB is within the resource pool for reception of SCI that is        provided to the UE.

FIG. 4 illustrates the use of transmission/reception resources foroverlay (LTE) and underlay (D2D) system.

Basically, the eNodeB controls whether UE may apply the Mode 1 or Mode 2transmission. Once the UE knows its resources where it can transmit (orreceive) D2D communication, it uses the corresponding resources only forthe corresponding transmission/reception. For example, in FIG. 4 the D2Dsubframes will only be used to receive or transmit the D2D signals.Since the UE as a D2D device would operate in Half Duplex mode, it caneither receive or transmit the D2D signals at any point of time.Similarly, the other subframes illustrated in FIG. 4 can be used for LTE(overlay) transmissions and/or reception.

Transmission Procedure for D2D Communication

The D2D data transmission procedure differs depending on the resourceallocation mode. As described above for Mode 1, the eNB explicitlyschedules the resources for the Scheduling Assignment and the D2D datacommunication after a corresponding request from the UE. Particularly,the UE may be informed by the eNB that D2D communication is generallyallowed, but that no Mode 2 resources (i.e., resource pool) areprovided; this may be done, e.g., with the exchange of the D2Dcommunication Interest Indication by the UE and the correspondingresponse, D2D Communication Response, where the corresponding exemplaryProseCommConfig information element would not include thecommTxPoolNormalCommon, meaning that a UE that wants to start directcommunication involving transmissions has to request E-UTRAN to assignresources for each individual transmission. Thus, in such a case, the UEhas to request the resources for each individual transmission, and inthe following the different steps of the request/grant procedure areexemplarily listed for this Mode 1 resource allocation:

-   -   Step 1: UE sends SR (Scheduling Request) to eNB via PUCCH;    -   Step 2: eNB grants UL resource (for UE to send BSR) via PDCCH,        scrambled by C-RNTI;    -   Step 3: UE sends D2D BSR indicating the buffer status via PUSCH;    -   Step 4: eNB grants D2D resource (for UE to send data) via PDCCH,        scrambled by D2D-RNTI.    -   Step 5: D2D Tx UE transmits SA/D2D data according to grant        received in step 4.

A Scheduling Assignment (SA), also termed SCI (Sidelink ControlInformation) is a compact (low-payload) message containing controlinformation, e.g., pointer(s) to time-frequency resources, modulationand coding scheme and Group Destination ID for the corresponding D2Ddata transmission. An SCI transports the sidelink scheduling informationfor one (ProSE) destination ID. The content of the SA (SCI) is basicallyin accordance with the grant received in Step 4 above. The D2D grant andSA content (i.e., SCI content) are defined in the 3GPP technicalstandard 36.212, current version 13.0.0, subclause 5.4.3, incorporatedherein by reference, defining in particular the SCI format 0 (seecontent of SCI format 0 above).

On the other hand, for Mode 2 resource allocation, above steps 1-4 arebasically not necessary, and the UE autonomously selects resources forthe SA and D2D data transmission from the transmission resource pool(s)configured and provided by the eNB.

FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates the transmission of the SchedulingAssignment and the D2D data for two UEs, UE-1 and UE-2, where theresources for sending the scheduling assignments are periodic, and theresources used for the D2D data transmission are indicated by thecorresponding Scheduling Assignment.

FIG. 6 illustrates the D2D communication timing for Mode 2, autonomousscheduling, during one SA/data period, also known as SC period, SidelinkControl period. FIG. 7 illustrates the D2D communication timing for Mode1, eNB-scheduled allocation during one SA/data period. A SC period isthe time period consisting of transmission of a Scheduling Assignmentand its corresponding data. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the UE transmitsafter an SA-offset time, a Scheduling Assignment using the transmissionpool resources for scheduling assignments for Mode 2, SA_Mode2_Txpool.The 1st transmission of the SA is followed, e.g., by threeretransmissions of the same SA message. Then, the UE starts the D2D datatransmission, i.e., more in particular the T-RPT bitmap/pattern, at someconfigured offset (Mode2data_offset) after the first subframe of the SAresource pool (given by the SA_offset). One D2D data transmission of aMAC PDU (i.e., a transport block) consists of its 1st initialtransmission and several retransmissions. For the illustration of FIG. 6(and of FIG. 7) it is assumed that three retransmissions are performed(i.e., 2nd, 3rd, and 4th transmission of the same MAC PDU). The Mode2T-RPT Bitmap (time resource pattern of transmission, T-RPT) basicallydefines the timing of the MAC PDU transmission (1st transmission) andits retransmissions (2^(nd,) 3^(rd), and 4^(th) transmission). The SApattern basically defines the timing of the SA's initial transmissionand its retransmissions (2^(nd), 3^(rd), and 4^(th) transmission).

As currently specified in the standard, for one sidelink grant, e.g.,either sent by the eNB or selected by the UE itself, the UE can transmitmultiple transport blocks, MAC PDUs, (only one per subframe (TTI), i.e.,one after the other), however to only one ProSe destination group. Alsothe retransmissions of one transport block must be finished before thefirst transmission of the next transport block starts, i.e., only oneHARQ process is used per sidelink grant for the transmission of themultiple transport blocks. Furthermore, the UE can have and use severalsidelink grants per SC period, but a different ProSe destination beselected for each of them. Thus, in one SC period the UE can transmitdata to one ProSe destination only one time.

As apparent from FIG. 7, for the eNB-scheduled resource allocation mode(Mode 1), the D2D data transmission, i.e., more in particular the T-RPTpattern/bitmap, starts in the next UL subframe after the last SAtransmission repetition in the SA resource pool. As explained alreadyfor FIG. 6, the Mode1 T-RPT Bitmap (time resource pattern oftransmission, T-RPT) basically defines the timing of the MAC PDUtransmission (1st transmission) and its retransmissions (2nd, 3rd, and4th transmission).

The sidelink data transmission procedure can be found in the 3GPPstandard document TS 36.321 v13.0.0, section 5.14, incorporated hereinby reference. Therein, the Mode-2 autonomous resource selection isdescribed in detail, differentiating between being configured with asingle radio resource pool or multiple radio resource pools. Thefollowing steps are taken from said section of TS 36.321, assumingMode-2 autonomous resource selection:

In order to transmit on the SL-SCH (sidelink shared channel) the MACentity must have at least one sidelink grant. Sidelink grants areselected as follows:

If the MAC entity is configured by upper layers to transmit using one ormultiple pool(s) of resources and more data is available in STCH(sidelink traffic channel) than can be transmitted in the current SCperiod, the MAC entity shall for each sidelink grant to be selected:

-   -   if configured by upper layers to use a single pool of resources:        -   select that pool of resources for use;    -   else, if configured by upper layers to use multiple pools of        resources:        -   select a pool of resources for use from the pools of            resources configured by upper layers whose associated            priority list includes the priority of the highest priority            of the sidelink logical channel in the MAC PDU to be            transmitted;

NOTE: If more than one pool of resources has an associated priority listwhich includes the priority of the sidelink logical channel with thehighest priority in the MAC PDU to be transmitted, it is left for UEimplementation which one of those pools of resources to select.

-   -   randomly select the time and frequency resources for SL-SCH and        SCI of a sidelink grant from the selected resource pool. The        random function shall be such that each of the allowed        selections can be chosen with equal probability;    -   use the selected sidelink grant to determine the set of        subframes in which transmission of SCI and transmission of first        transport block occur according to subclause 14.2.1 of TS 36.213        incorporated herein by reference (this step refers to the        selection of a T-RPT and a SA pattern, as explained in        connection with FIG. 7);    -   consider the selected sidelink grant to be a configured sidelink        grant occurring in those subframes starting at the beginning of        the first available SC Period which starts at least 4 subframes        after the subframe in which the sidelink grant was selected;    -   clear the configured sidelink grant at the end of the        corresponding SC Period;

NOTE: Retransmissions on SL-SCH cannot occur after the configuredsidelink grant has been cleared.

NOTE: If the MAC entity is configured by upper layers to transmit usingone or multiple pool(s) of resources, it is left for UE implementationhow many sidelink grants to select within one SC period taking thenumber of sidelink processes into account.

The MAC entity shall for each subframe:

-   -   if the MAC entity has a configured sidelink grant occurring in        this subframe:        -   if the configured sidelink grant corresponds to transmission            of SCI:        -   instruct the physical layer to transmit SCI corresponding to            the configured sidelink grant.    -   else if the configured sidelink grant corresponds to        transmission of first transport block:        -   deliver the configured sidelink grant and the associated            HARQ information to the Sidelink HARQ Entity for this            subframe.

NOTE: If the MAC entity has multiple configured grants occurring in onesubframe and if not all of them can be processed due to thesingle-cluster SC-FDM restriction, it is left for UE implementationwhich one of these to process according to the procedure above.

The above text taken from the 3GPP technical standard can be clarifiedfurther. For example, the step of randomly selecting the time andfrequency resources is random as to which particular time/frequencyresources are chosen but is, e.g., not random as to the amount oftime/frequency resources selected in total. The amount of resourcesselected from the resource pool depends on the amount of data that is tobe transmitted with said sidelink grant to be selected autonomously. Inturn, the amount of data that is to be transmitted depends on theprevious step of selecting the ProSe destination group and thecorresponding amount of data ready for transmission destined to saidProSe destination group. As described later in the sidelink LCPprocedure, the ProSe destination is selected first.

Furthermore, the sidelink process associated with the sidelink HARQentity is responsible for instructing the physical layer to generate andperform a transmission accordingly, as apparent from section 5.14.1.2.2of 3GPP TS 36.321 v13.0.0, incorporated herein by reference. In brief,after determining the sidelink grant and the sidelink data to transmit,the physical layer takes care that the sidelink data is actuallytransmitted, based on the sidelink grant and the necessary transmissionparameters.

What is discussed above is the current status of the 3GPP standard forthe D2D communication. However, it should be noted that there has beenongoing discussions on how to further improve and enhance the D2Dcommunication which will likely result in that some changes areintroduced to the D2D communication in future releases. The presentdisclosure as will be described later shall be also applicable to thoselater releases.

ProSe Network Architecture and ProSe Entities

FIG. 8 illustrates a high-level exemplary architecture for a non-roamingcase, including different ProSe applications in the respective UEs A andB, as well as a ProSe Application Server and ProSe function in thenetwork. The example architecture of FIG. 8 is taken from TS 23.303v.13.2.0 chapter 4.2 “Architectural Reference Model” incorporated hereinby reference.

The functional entities are presented and explained in detail in TS23.303 subclause 4.4 “Functional Entities” incorporated herein byreference. The ProSe function is the logical function that is used fornetwork-related actions required for ProSe and plays different roles foreach of the features of ProSe. The ProSe function is part of the 3GPP'sEPC and provides all relevant network services like authorization,authentication, data handling, etc., related to proximity services. ForProSe direct discovery and communication, the UE may obtain a specificProSe UE identity, other configuration information, as well asauthorization from the ProSe function over the PC3 reference point.There can be multiple ProSe functions deployed in the network, althoughfor ease of illustration a single ProSe function is presented. The ProSefunction consists of three main sub-functions that perform differentroles depending on the ProSe feature: Direct Provision Function (DPF),Direct Discovery Name Management Function, and EPC-level DiscoveryFunction. The DPF is used to provision the UE with the necessaryparameters to use ProSe Direct Discovery and ProSe Direct Communication.

The term “UE” used in said connection refers to a ProSe-enabled UEsupporting ProSe functionality, such as:

-   -   Exchange of ProSe control information between ProSe-enabled UE        and the ProSe Function over PC3 reference point.    -   Procedures for open ProSe Direct Discovery of other        ProSe-enabled UEs over PC5 reference point.    -   Procedures for one-to-many ProSe Direct Communication over PC5        reference point.    -   Procedures to act as a ProSe UE-to-Network Relay. The Remote UE        communicates with the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay over PC5        reference point. The ProSe UE-to Network Relay uses layer-3        packet forwarding.    -   Exchange of control information between ProSe UEs over PC5        reference point, e.g., for UE-to-Network Relay detection and        ProSe Direct Discovery.    -   Exchange of ProSe control information between another        ProSe-enabled UE and the ProSe Function over PC3 reference        point. In the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay case the Remote UE will        send this control information over PC5 user plane to be relayed        over the LTE-Uu interface towards the ProSe Function.    -   Configuration of parameters (e.g., including IP addresses, ProSe        Layer-2 Group IDs, Group security material, radio resource        parameters). These parameters can be pre-configured in the UE,        or, if in coverage, provisioned by signaling over the PC3        reference point to the ProSe Function in the network.

The ProSe Application Server supports the Storage of EPC ProSe User IDs,and ProSe Function IDs, and the mapping of Application Layer User IDsand EPC ProSe User IDs. The ProSe Application Server (AS) is an entityoutside the scope of 3GPP. The ProSe application in the UE communicateswith the ProSe AS via the application-layer reference point PC1. TheProSe AS is connected to the 3GPP network via the PC2 reference point.

Vehicular Communication—V2X Services

A new study item has been set up in the 3GPP to consider the usefulnessof new LTE features to the automotive industry—including ProximityService (ProSE) and LTE-based broadcast services. ProSe functionality isthus considered as offering a good foundation for the V2X services.Connected vehicle technologies aim to tackle some of the biggestchallenges in the surface transportation industry, such as safety,mobility, and traffic efficiency.

V2X communication is the passing of information from a vehicle to anyentity that may affect the vehicle, and vice versa. This informationexchange can be used to improve safety, mobility and environmentalapplications to include driver assistance vehicle safety, speedadaptation and warning, emergency response, travel information,navigation, traffic operations, commercial fleet planning and paymenttransactions.

LTE support for V2X services contains 3 types of different use caseswhich are the following:

-   -   V2V: covering LTE-based communication between vehicles.    -   V2P: covering LTE-based communication between a vehicle and a        device carried by an individual (e.g., handheld terminal carried        by a pedestrian, cyclist, driver or passenger).    -   V2I: covering LTE-based communication between a vehicle and a        road side unit.

These three types of V2X can use “co-operative awareness” to providemore intelligent services for end-users. This means that transportentities, such as vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and pedestrians,can collect knowledge of their local environment (e.g., informationreceived from other vehicles or sensor equipment in proximity) toprocess and share that knowledge in order to provide more intelligentservices, such as cooperative collision warning or autonomous driving.

With regard to V2V communication, E-UTRAN allows such UEs that are inproximity of each other to exchange V2V-related information usingE-UTRA(N) when permission, authorization and proximity criteria arefulfilled. The proximity criteria can be configured by the MNO (MobileNetwork Operator). However, UEs supporting V2V Service can exchange suchinformation when served by or not served by E-UTRAN which supports V2XService.

The UE supporting V2V applications transmits application layerinformation (e.g., about its location, dynamics, and attributes as partof the V2V Service). The V2V payload must be flexible in order toaccommodate different information contents, and the information can betransmitted periodically according to a configuration provided by theMNO.

V2V is predominantly broadcast-based; V2V includes the exchange ofV2V-related application information between distinct UEs directlyand/or, due to the limited direct communication range of V2V, theexchange of V2V-related application information between distinct UEs viainfrastructure supporting V2X Service, e.g., RSU, application server,etc.

With regard to V2I communication, the UE supporting V2I applicationssends application layer information to the Road Side Unit, which in turncan send application layer information to a group of UEs or a UEsupporting V2I applications. V2N (Vehicle to Network, eNB/CN) is alsointroduced where one party is a UE and the other party is a servingentity, both supporting V2N applications and communicating with eachother via LTE network.

With regard to V2P communication, E-UTRAN allows such UEs that are inproximity of each other to exchange V2P-related information usingE-UTRAN when permission, authorization and proximity criteria arefulfilled. The proximity criteria can be configured by the MNO. However,UEs supporting V2P Service can exchange such information even when notserved by E-UTRAN which supports V2X Service.

The UE supporting V2P applications transmits application layerinformation. Such information can be broadcast by a vehicle with UEsupporting V2X Service (e.g., warning to pedestrian), and/or by apedestrian with UE supporting V2X Service (e.g., warning to vehicle).

V2P includes the exchange of V2P-related application information betweendistinct UEs (one for vehicle and the other for pedestrian) directlyand/or, due to the limited direct communication range of V2P, theexchange of V2P-related application information between distinct UEs viainfrastructure supporting V2X Service, e.g., RSU, application server,etc.

For this new study item V2X, 3GPP has provided particular terms anddefinition in TR 21.905, current version 13.0.0, which can be reused forthis application.

Road Side Unit (RSU): An entity supporting V2I Service that can transmitto, and receive from a UE using V2I application. An RSU can beimplemented in an eNB or a stationary UE.

V2I Service: A type of V2X Service, where one party is a UE and theother party is an RSU both using V2I application.

V2N Service: A type of V2X Service, where one party is a UE and theother party is a serving entity, both using V2N applications andcommunicating with each other via LTE network entities.

V2P Service: A type of V2X Service, where both parties of thecommunication are UEs using V2P application.

V2V Service: A type of V2X Service, where both parties of thecommunication are UEs using V2V application.

V2X Service: A type of communication service that involves atransmitting or receiving UE using V2V application via 3GPP transport.Based on the other party involved in the communication, it can befurther divided into V2V Service, V2I Service, V2P Service, and V2NService.

Different types of messages are and will be defined for the V2Vcommunication. Two different types of messages have been already definedby ETSI for the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), see correspondingEuropean Standards ETSI EN 302 637-2 v1.3.1 and ETSI EN 302 637-3 v1.2.1:

-   -   Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAM), which are continuously        triggered by vehicle dynamics to reflect the vehicle status.    -   Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENM), which        are triggered only when vehicle-related safety events occur.

As the V2V and ITS standardizations are rather at the beginning, it isto be expected that other messages might be defined in the future.

CAMs are continuously broadcast by ITS-Stations (ITS-S) to exchangestatus information with other ITS-Ss, and thus have a larger impact onthe traffic load than event-triggered DENM messages. For this reason,traffic characteristics of CAM messages as defined by ETSI for ITS areconsidered more representative of V2V traffic.

Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAMs) are messages exchanged in the ITSnetwork between ITS-Ss to create and maintain awareness of each otherand to support cooperative performance of vehicles using the roadnetwork. Point to multipoint communication shall be used fortransmitting CAMs, such that the CAMs are transmitted from theoriginating ITS-S to the receiving ITS-Ss located in the directcommunication range of the originating ITS-S. CAM generation shall betriggered and managed by the Cooperative Awareness basic service, whichdefines the time interval between two consecutive CAM generations. Atpresent, the upper and lower limits of the transmission interval are 100ms (i.e., CAM generation rate of 10 Hz) and 1000 ms (i.e., CAMgeneration rate of 1 Hz). The underlying philosophy of ETSI ITS is tosend CAMs when there is new information to share (e.g., new position,new acceleration or new heading values). Correspondingly, when thevehicles are moving slowly and on constant heading and speed, a high CAMgeneration rate brings no real benefit at the CAMs only display minimaldifferences. The transmission frequency of CAMs of one vehicle variesbetween 1HZ to 10 Hz as a function of the vehicle dynamics (e.g., speed,acceleration, and heading). For instance, the slower the vehicle drives,the less number of CAMs are triggered and transmitted. Vehicle speed isthe main impacting factor on CAM traffic generation,

The CAM generation trigger conditions are currently defined in ETSI EN302 637-2 v1.3.1 clause 6.1.3 and shown below:

1) The time elapsed since the last CAM generation is equal to or greaterthan T_GenCam_Dcc (a parameter providing the minimum time intervalbetween two consecutive CAM generations in order to reduce the CAMgeneration according to the channel usage requirements of decentralizedcongestion control (DCC) and one of the following ITS-S dynamics relatedconditions is given:

-   -   the absolute difference between the current heading of the        originating ITS-S and the heading included in the CAM previously        transmitted by the originating ITS-S exceeds 4°;    -   the distance between the current position of the originating        ITS-S and the position included in the CAM previously        transmitted by the originating ITS-S exceeds 4 m;    -   the absolute difference between the current speed of the        originating ITS-S and the speed included in the CAM previously        transmitted by the originating ITS-S exceeds 0.5 m/s.

2) The time elapsed since the last CAM generation is equal to or greaterthan T_GenCam and equal to or greater than T_GenCam_Dcc. The parameterT_GenCam represents the currently valid upper limit of the CAMgeneration interval.

If one of the above two conditions are satisfied, a CAM shall begenerated immediately.

A CAM contains status and attributes information of the originatingITS-S. The content of CAMs varies depending on the type of the ITS-S, aswill be explained in more detail below. For vehicle ITS-Ss the statusinformation may include time, position, motion state, activated systems,etc., and the attribute information may include data about thedimensions, vehicle type and role in the road traffic, etc. Uponreception of a CAM, the receiving ITS-S becomes aware of the presence,type, and status of the originating ITS-S. The received information canbe used by the receiving ITS-S to support several ITS applications. Forexample, by comparing the status of the originating ITS-S with its ownstatus, a receiving ITS-S is able to estimate the collision risk withthe originating ITS-S and if necessary may inform the driver of thevehicle via the HMI (Human Machine Interface). As described in detail inclause 7 of ETSI EN 302 637-2 v 1.3.1, incorporated herein by reference,a CAM is composed of one common ITS PDU header and multiple containers,which together constitute a CAM. The ITS PDU header is a common headerthat includes the information of the protocol version, the message typeand the ITS-S ID of the originating ITS-S. For vehicle ITS-Ss a CAMshall comprise one basic container and one high-frequency container, andmay also include one low-frequency container and one or more otherspecial containers. The basic container includes the basic informationrelated to the originating ITS-S. The high-frequency container containshighly dynamic information of the originating ITS-S. The low-frequencycontainer contains static and not highly dynamic information of theoriginating ITS-S. The special vehicle container contains informationspecific to the vehicle role of the originating vehicle ITS-S. Thegeneral structure of a CAM is illustrated in FIG. 9.

The following table gives an overview and packet sizes of the differentcomponents of the V2V message data:

TABLE 2 Typical Size Data Elements Type (Bytes) Description HeaderMandatory 8 Protocol version, message type, sender address, and timestamp Basic Container Mandatory 18 Station type (e.g., lightTruck,cyclist, pedestrians, etc.) and position High-Frequency Mandatory 23 Allfast-changing status information of the (HF) Container vehicle, i.e.,heading, speed, acceleration, etc. Low-Frequency Optional 60 Static orslow-changing vehicle data, mainly (LF) Container path history. The pathhistory is made up of a number of path history points. 7 path historypoints are sufficient to cover over 90% cases based on extensivetesting. Each point is approximately 8 bytes. Special Vehicle Optional2~11 Specific vehicles role in road traffic (e.g., Container publictransport, vehicles realizing a rescuing operation, etc.).

The vehicle ITS-S generates CAMs that shall include at least ahigh-frequency vehicle container, and optionally a low-frequency vehiclecontainer. Vehicle ITS-Ss which have a specific role in road traffic,such as public transport shall provide for the status information inspecial vehicle containers.

Each V2V message exchanged between vehicles has to satisfy securityrequirements, including anonymity and integrity protection. Differentsecurity schemes can have different security performances and levels ofoverhead, which have direct impacts on the packet size (due to thesecurity overhead) and message frequency (e.g., how often a securitycertificate is attached).

Both ETSI ITS and IEEE 1609.2 consider public key infrastructure(PKI)-based security solutions for V2X communications, which is anasymmetric-based application-layer security solution. Typically, everyV2X message needs to carry a signature, as well as either a certificateor a certificate's digest to achieve anonymity and integrity protection.Typical sizes for signature, digest, and certificate are 64 bytes, 8bytes, and 117 bytes, respectively.

As explained above, the CAM messages may have different periodicitiesand/or different message sizes. Further, the periodicities may evenchange over time depending on speed and other (less impacting) factorssuch as heading or angle. In order to provide an overview, the followingtables are provided identifying the different possible messagecomponents (HF, LF, certificate) and the resulting periodicities andmessage sizes depending on three different typical speed ranges.

TABLE 3 CAM With PKI-Based Security Overhead (for vehicle speed > 144km/h): Component Distribution Parameters CAM HF Component Deterministic10 Hz (or every Transmission Frequency 100 ms) (including signature anddigest) CAM LF Component Deterministic 2 Hz (or every TransmissionFrequency 500 ms) Certificate Transmission Deterministic 1 Hz (or everyFrequency 1000 ms) CAM HF Component Size Deterministic 122 Bytes(including signature and digest) CAM LF Component Size Deterministic  60Bytes Certificate Size Deterministic 117 Bytes

TABLE 4 CAM With PKI-Based Security Overhead (speed ∈[72, 144] km/h)Component Distribution Parameters CAM HF Component Deterministic 5 Hz(or every Transmission Frequency 200 ms) (including signature anddigest) CAM LF Component Deterministic 1.67 Hz (or every TransmissionFrequency 600 ms) Certificate Transmission Deterministic 1 Hz (or everyFrequency 1000 ms) CAM HF Component Size Deterministic 122 Bytes(including signature and digest) CAM LF Component Size Deterministic  60Bytes Certificate Size Deterministic 117 Bytes

TABLE 5 CAM With PKI-Based Security Overhead (speed ∈[48, 72] km/h)Component Distribution Parameters CAM HF Component Deterministic 3.33 Hz(or every Transmission Frequency 300 ms) (including signature anddigest) CAM LF Component Deterministic 1.67 Hz (or every TransmissionFrequency 600 ms) Certificate Transmission Deterministic 0.83 Hz (orevery Frequency 1200 ms) CAM HF Component Size Deterministic 122 Bytes(including signature and digest) CAM LF Component Size Deterministic  60Bytes Certificate Size Deterministic 117 Bytes

As apparent from the above table, the size of the components and thus ofthe CAMs stays the same but their generation/transmission frequencychanges with the different speed ranges. For the above table, the CAM HFcomponent is assumed to be transmitted together with a signature anddigest, resulting in a message size of approximately 122 bytes (i.e.,enough to transport 8 bytes for the header, 18 bytes for the basiccontainer, 23 bytes for the high-frequency container, 64 bytes for thesignature and 8 bytes for the digest). A CAM LF component, which ispiggybacked on the high-frequency component, approximately has a size ofan additional 60 bytes such that the resulting CAM size with allcontainers/components is 182 bytes. A certificate component (also termedsecurity component), piggybacked on the high-frequency component,approximately has a size of an additional 117 bytes, such that theresulting CAM size with all containers/components is 299 bytes orwithout the CAM LF container/component is 239 bytes.

FIG. 10 illustrates the occurrence of the three different componentsdepending on the above-introduced three different speed ranges and howthis results in different overall message sizes and overallperiodicities. In FIG. 10 a dashed square, comprising the differentcomponents, shall indicate that the components are not transmittedseparately but as one CAM message.

In the above, the periodic Cooperative Awareness messages have beendescribed in great detail, also specifying their differing content,particular periodicities and message sizes. However, it should be notedthat although some of the above information has already beenstandardized, other information, such as the periodicities and themessage sizes, are not standardized yet and are based on assumptions.Furthermore, the standardization might change in the future and thusmight also change aspects of how the CAMs are generated and transmitted.Furthermore, although at present the different components discussedabove (CAM HF, CAM LF, certificate) are transmitted together, i.e., asone message, when they fall together, this does not have to necessarilythe case. In the future it might also be possible to transmit thesecontainers/components separately from one another, then probablyrespectively including the Header and may be the basic container too.Consequently, the above detailed description of the CAMs should beunderstood as an example conceived for illustration purposes althoughthe message sizes and periodicities are realistic and based onsimulation results. The above-described CAM message and their content,periodicities and message sizes will be used throughout this applicationin order to explain the underlying principles of the disclosure. What isimportant for the disclosure is that V2V communication will require avehicular UE to transmit different data in a periodic way, and it isforeseeable that the periodicity may quickly change as a function ofvehicle dynamics such as (relative) speed, angles, heading, and possiblyother factors such as vehicle distance, etc. Consequently, a challengeis that a vehicular UE shall be able to transmit several periodicpackets of different message sizes with different and varyingperiodicities.

In order to the vehicular UE to have radio resources on the site link totransmit the CAMs, Mode1 and/or Mode2 radio resource allocation areenvisioned as explained above. For Mode 1 radio resource allocation, theeNB allocates resources for the SA message and data for each SA period.However, when there is a lot of traffic (e.g., high-frequency periodictraffic), the overhead on the Uu link from UE to the eNB could be big.

As apparent from the above, a lot of V2V traffic is periodical, suchthat the 3GPP has agreed that for sidelink V2V communication Mode 1(i.e., eNB scheduled radio resource allocation), sidelinksemi-persistent radio resource allocation will be supported by eNBs andUEs.

However, the currently standardized semi-persistent allocation mechanismneeds to be improved and adapted to the requirements and challenges ofV2V traffic.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Non-limiting and exemplary embodiments provide an improved resourceallocation method for vehicular communication for a vehicular mobileterminal.

The independent claims provide non-limiting and exemplary embodiments.Advantageous embodiments are subject to the dependent claims.

Correspondingly, in one general first aspect, the techniques disclosedhere feature a vehicular mobile terminal for transmitting periodic datato one or more receiving entities. The vehicular mobile terminalsupports transmission of the periodic data comprising one or moredifferent data components to be transmitted with different possibletransmission periodicities and/or different possible message sizes. Atransmitter of the vehicular mobile terminal transmits information onthe periodic data to a radio base station responsible for allocatingradio resources to the vehicular mobile terminal. The transmittedinformation on the periodic data is such that it allows the radio basestation to determine the different possible transmission periodicitiesand/or the different possible message sizes of the one or more datacomponents of the periodic data. A receiver of the vehicular mobileterminal receives from the radio base station a plurality ofsemi-persistent radio resource configurations configured by the radiobase station based on the received information on the periodic data.Each of the plurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurationsis configured for being usable to transmit at least one of the supporteddata components. The transmitter then indicates to the radio basestation that one or more of the data components are to be transmitted bythe vehicular mobile terminal. The receiver receives from the radio basestation an activation command to activate one or more of the pluralityof semi-persistent radio resource configurations to periodicallyallocate radio resources for the vehicular mobile terminal to transmiteach of the indicated data components. The transmitter then transmitsthe one or more data components to the one or more receiving entitiesbased on the radio resources and the transmission periodicity asconfigured by the activated one or more semi-persistent radio resourceconfigurations.

Correspondingly, in one general first aspect, the techniques disclosedhere feature a radio base station for allocating radio resources to avehicular mobile terminal for transmitting periodic data to one or morereceiving entities. The vehicular mobile terminal supports transmissionof the periodic data comprising one or more different data components tobe transmitted with different possible transmission periodicities and/ordifferent possible message sizes. A receiver of the radio base stationreceives from the vehicular mobile terminal information on the periodicdata to be transmitted by the vehicular mobile terminal to the one ormore receiving entities. A processor of the radio base stationdetermines the different supported data components and the differentpossible transmission periodicities and/or the different possiblemessage sizes of the one or more data components. The processorconfigures a plurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurationsbased on the determined transmission periodicities and/or on thedetermined message size. Each of the plurality of semi-persistent radioresource configurations is configured for being usable to transmit atleast one of the supported data components. A transmitter of the radiobase station transmits information on the configured plurality ofsemi-persistent radio resource configurations to the vehicular mobileterminal. The receiver receives, from the vehicular mobile terminal, anindication that one or more of the data components are to be transmittedby the vehicular mobile terminal. The processor then selects one or moreamong the plurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurations tobe activated for the vehicular mobile terminal to periodically allocateradio resources for the vehicular mobile terminal to transmit each ofthe indicated data components. The transmitter further configured totransmit an activation command to the vehicular mobile terminal toactivate the selected one or more semi-persistent radio resourceconfigurations for the vehicular mobile terminal.

Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will beapparent from the specification and Figures. The benefits and/oradvantages may be individually provided by the various embodiments andfeatures of the specification and drawings disclosure, and need not allbe provided in order to obtain one or more of the same.

These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a system, amethod, and a computer program, and any combination of systems, methods,and computer programs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following exemplary embodiments are described in more detail withreference to the attached figures and drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary architecture of a 3GPP LTE system,

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary downlink resource grid of a downlink slot of asubframe as defined for 3GPP LTE (Release 8/9),

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates how to establish a layer-2 link overthe PC5 for ProSe communication,

FIG. 4 illustrates the use of transmission/reception resources foroverlay (LTE) and underlay (D2D) systems,

FIG. 5 illustrates the transmission of the Scheduling Assignment and theD2D data for two UEs,

FIG. 6 illustrates the D2D communication timing for the UE-autonomousscheduling Mode 2,

FIG. 7 illustrates the D2D communication timing for the eNB-scheduledscheduling Mode 1,

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary architecture model for ProSe for anon-roaming scenario,

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary composition of a CAM message,

FIG. 10 illustrates the transmission of several different CAMcomponents, with varying periodicities and message sizes, for threedifferent speed ranges,

FIG. 11 illustrates the transmission of three different CAM components,as well as the usage of three SPS configurations for transmission of theCAMs according to an exemplary implementation of the first embodiment,

FIG. 12 also illustrates the transmission of three different CAMcomponents, as well as the usage of the three SPS configurations fortransmission of the CAMs according to a further exemplary implementationof the first embodiment, where the radio resources allocated by the SPSconfigurations are combined together,

FIG. 13 also illustrates the transmission of three different CAMcomponents, as well as the usage of the three SPS configurations fortransmission of the CAMs according to a further exemplary implementationof the first embodiment, where the radio resources allocated by thecorresponding SPS configuration are sufficient to transmit the completeCAM message, and

FIG. 14 also illustrates the transmission of three different CAMcomponents, as well as the usage of the nine different SPSconfigurations for transmission of the CAMs according to a furtherexemplary implementation of the first embodiment, having assumed thatthe vehicular UE supports three different speed ranges,

FIG. 15 also illustrates the transmission of three different CAMcomponents, as well as the usage of the ten different SPS configurationsfor transmission of the CAMs according to a further exemplaryimplementation of the first embodiment, having assumed that thevehicular UE supports three different speed ranges.

FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C show an exemplary extended SidelinkUEInformationmessage according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A mobile station or mobile node or user terminal or user equipment is aphysical entity within a communication network. One node may haveseveral functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software orhardware module that implements and/or offers a predetermined set offunctions to other functional entities of a node or the network. Nodesmay have one or more interfaces that attach the node to a communicationfacility or medium over which nodes can communicate. Similarly, anetwork entity may have a logical interface attaching the functionalentity to a communication facility or medium over which it maycommunicate with other functional entities or correspondent nodes.

The term “radio resources” as used in the set of claims and in theapplication is to be broadly understood as referring to physical radioresources, such as time-frequency resources.

The term “direct communication transmission” as used in the applicationis to be broadly understood as a transmission directly between two userequipments, i.e., not via the radio base station (e.g., eNB).Correspondingly, the direct communication transmission is performed overa “direct sidelink connection”, which is the term used for a connectionestablished directly between two user equipments. For example, in 3GPPthe terminology of D2D (Device-to-Device) communication is used or ProSecommunication, or a sidelink communication. The term “direct sidelinkconnection” is to be broadly understood and can be understood in the3GPP context as the PC5 interface described in the background section.

The term “ProSe” or in its unabbreviated form, “Proximity Services”,used in the application is applied in the context of Proximity-basedapplications and services in the LTE system as exemplarily explained inthe background section. Other terminology such as “D2D” is also used inthis context to refer to the Device-to-Device communication for theProximity Services.

The term “vehicular mobile terminal” as used throughout the applicationis to be understood in the context of the new 3GPP study item V2X(vehicular communication) as explained in the background section.Correspondingly, a vehicular mobile terminal shall be broadly understoodas a mobile terminal which is specifically installed in a vehicle (e.g.,car, commercial trucks, motorcycles, etc.) to perform vehicularcommunication, i.e., passing information related to the vehicle to otherentities (such as vehicles, infrastructure, pedestrians), e.g., for thepurpose of safety or driver assistance. Optionally, the vehicular mobileterminal may have access to information available at the navigationsystem (provided it is also installed in the car), such as mapinformation, etc.

As explained in the background section, 3GPP has introduced a new studyitem for LTE-assisted vehicular communication, which shall be based onProSe procedures to exchange V2V traffic between the various vehicularmobile terminals and other stations. Furthermore, semi-persistent radioresource allocation shall be supported by V2V traffic for Mode 1sidelink allocation so as to reduce the amount of scheduling to performby the eNB. However, current SPS mechanisms are not adapted to V2Vtraffic and its characteristics. For instance, for the usualsemi-persistent scheduling on the Uu link (i.e., between eNB and UE),the eNB receives QCI information (QoS class identifier) from an MME(Mobility Management Entity). The QCI information indicates that acertain bearer configured between the eNB and the UE is configured totransport VoIP traffic, such that the eNB learns about the periodictraffic generated by the UE on that bearer. The eNB can then configure asemi-persistent radio resource allocation for the UE, by sending an RRCsignaling to the UE to configure the SPS periodicity. Then, when the UEneeds to actually transmit VoIP data over that bearer and transmits acorresponding Buffer Status Report indicating that there is data to betransmitted for VoIP traffic, the eNB would send a PDCCH to the UE toactivate the SPS configuration wherein the PDCCH message also indicateswhich radio resources the UE is allowed to periodically use (thusallocating a particular amount of radio resources). Correspondingly, theUE uses the SPS resources for periodically transmitting the VoIPtraffic.

However, the eNB does not have knowledge of the traffic type (e.g.,periodicity or message size) that would be transmitted by a particularvehicular UE over the sidelink connection, such that it cannot properlydetermine the amount of resources to allocate through thesemi-persistent radio resource allocation nor the periodicity of thesesemi-persistent radio resources.

Even if the eNB would somehow receive information about traffic to betransmitted by a vehicular UE, it should be noted that the vehicular UEwill have to transmit V2V traffic having different periodicities and/ordifferent message sizes, which is significantly different from the VoIPtraffic type for which the current SPS mechanism was designed.Furthermore, the periodicity with which the V2V traffic is to betransmitted is variable as it may change, e.g., depending on vehicledynamics such as the speed with which the vehicle travels. Therefore,the currently standardized SPS mechanism is deficient to cope with thesedifferent V2V usage scenarios.

The following exemplary embodiments are conceived by the inventors tomitigate one or more of the problems explained above.

Particular implementations of the various embodiments are to beimplemented in the wide specification as given by the 3GPP standards andexplained partly in the background section, with the particular keyfeatures being added as explained in the following pertaining to thevarious embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments may beadvantageously used for example in a mobile communication system, suchas 3GPP LTE-A (Release 10/11/12/13) communication systems as describedin the Technical Background section above (or later releases), but theembodiments are not limited to its use in this particular exemplarycommunication networks.

The explanations should not be understood as limiting the scope of thedisclosure, but as a mere example of embodiments to better understandthe present disclosure. A skilled person should be aware that thegeneral principles of the present disclosure as laid out in the claimscan be applied to different scenarios and in ways that are notexplicitly described herein. For illustration purposes, severalassumptions are made which however shall not restrict the scope of thefollowing embodiments.

The various embodiments mainly provide an improved semi-persistentresource allocation procedure between a (vehicular) UE and the eNBresponsible to allocate radio resources to the (vehicular) UE.Therefore, other functionality (i.e., functionality not changed by thevarious embodiments) may remain exactly the same as explained in thebackground section or may be changed without any consequences to thevarious embodiments. This includes, e.g., other procedures relating tohow the actual transmission of the periodic data is performed by thevehicular UE after the vehicular UE is allocated with suitablesemi-persistent radio resources.

First Embodiment

In the following a first embodiment for solving the above-mentionedproblem(s) will be described in detail. Different implementations andvariants of the first embodiment will be explained as well.

Exemplarily, a vehicular UE is assumed which is installed in a vehicleand is capable of performing vehicular communication based on the D2Dframework as explained in the background section of this application.However, as will be explained in more detail later, the principlesunderlying the disclosure are not restricted to be merely applied byvehicular UEs, but may also be implemented by usual (i.e.,non-vehicular) UEs which are for example transmitting periodic data viathe Uu interface to the eNB or via the PC5 interface (sidelinkconnection) to other UE(s). Nonetheless, for the following discussion itis assumed that it is a vehicular UE which needs to periodicallytransmit V2V data.

It is further assumed that the vehicular UE transmits (broadcasts) theperiodic data destined to other (vehicular) UEs, although it might alsobe possible that the periodic data is transmitted to other (vehicular)UEs (via the PC5 interface), its eNB (via the Uu interface), Road SideUnits (possibly via the PC5 interface) and/or other suitable stationsfor which the periodic data transmitted by the vehicular UE is ofinterest; the transmission from the vehicular UE can be assumed to bepoint-to-multipoint thus reaching all receiving entities in its area.

The periodic data to be transmitted by the vehicular UE will beexemplified by the Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAMs) explained indetail in the background section. The characteristics of the CAMs thatare relevant to the disclosure are that CAMs are transmitted in aperiodic fashion. However, CAMs are significantly different from theusual VoIP usage scenario of semi-persistent scheduling scenarios inthat there are different and even varying transmission periodicitiesand/or different message sizes (i.e., the amount of data that is to betransmitted and for which the vehicular UE needs radio resources). VoIPexhibits a fixed periodicity and fixed message size that may well behandled by a semi-persistent radio resource allocation.

It should be noted that CAMs are merely an example of such periodicdata, and that the disclosure may be applied to other data types as wellthat might be standardized in the future for vehicular or non-vehicularcommunication. Especially for the vehicular communication it is likelythat a vehicular UE may have to periodically broadcast (status andattribute) data at different and/or even varying periodicities, and thusmay have to transmit at different time instances messages with more orless data due to the different periodicities.

As will explained in detail below, the CAM messages are a fittingexample of this kind periodic data and will thus be used to explain thefirst embodiment and its variants, although the disclosure is notrestricted thereto as just mentioned.

There are different CAM components (e.g., CAM HF, CAM LF, certificatewill be the CAM components based on which of the disclosure will beexplained in the following) which need to be periodically broadcast by avehicular UE but with different periodicities. It is mostly assumed inthe following that at a particular time instance only one CAM message istransmitted/broadcast by the vehicular UE, said CAM message howevercomprising the different CAM components that are due to be transmittedat that time instance (i.e., CAM components that concur at that timeinstance despite having different periodicities). In other words, incase different CAM components are to be transmitted by the vehicular UEat the same time (SC period on the PC5 interface, the different CAMcomponents are piggybacked together to form a single CAM message whichis then transmitted. For the piggybacking to actually work, theperiodicities of the different CAM components need to be coordinated(i.e., be multiples of each other) such that the different CAMcomponents indeed conquer at particular same time instances. The singleCAMs are thus transmitted in a periodic fashion, with a singleperiodicity (which is given by the highest transmission rate of the CAMcomponents to be transmitted (e.g., the CAM HF component) but withdifferent content and thus message size (i.e., different CAM componentsare comprised in the single CAM messages at different time instances)were in the different message sizes also varies periodically (see, e.g.,FIG. 10 and related description). The radio resource allocationmechanism thus needs to allocate a different amount of radio resourcesat different time instances.

Alternatively, it is also possible that the different CAM componentshaving the different periodicities are transmitted as separate CAMmessages. This might be disadvantageous in view of that more radioresources are needed since each of the separate CAM messages might needto include at least the header and possibly also the basic container(see FIG. 9 and related description) which is avoided in the firstalternative by piggybacking the CAM components together. However,providing separate CAM messages has the advantage that avoids the needto coordinate the different periodicities of the respective CAMcomponents may be avoided, i.e., that the periodicities of therespective CAM components may be freely defined. In this case, the CAMmessages have different periodicities and different message sizes.

It should be noted, that the 3GPP standardization has not yet fullyagreed on the transmission rate of the different CAM components, onwhether or not piggybacking will be optional or mandatory, or on howexactly the different CAM components will be transmitted. In any case,this might also change in future releases. The principles underlying thedisclosure are applicable to any of these cases, even though slightadaptations may have to be applied to account for these changes.

In the following it will be mainly assumed that at a particular timeinstance only one CAM message is transmitted by the vehicular UE,meaning that the different CAM components will form a single CAMmessage.

Furthermore, it is expected that the required transmission periodicityof the CAM components may quickly change over time as a function ofvehicle dynamics such as speed, heading, and/or angle; possibly otherfactors may be defined in the future.

In summary, a (vehicular) UE will transmit periodic data (e.g., CAMs) toother receiving entities (e.g., other vehicular stations). In order totransmit to the periodic data, the vehicular UE needs radio resourceswhich may be, e.g., allocated by the eNodeB, e.g., according to theProSe Mode 1 radio resource allocation as explained in the backgroundsection. According to the first embodiment, the eNodeB allocatessemi-persistent radio resources to the vehicular UE to thereby allow thevehicular UE to transmit periodically the pending periodic data.

To already provide a brief overview, the first embodiment mayconceptually be divided into a preparation phase and an execution phase.In the preparation phase, different SPS configurations will beconfigured by the eNodeB for the later transmission of the periodic datathat is supported by the vehicular UE and that may thus be transmittedby the vehicular UE in the future. The vehicular UE will be configuredwith various different SPS configurations that may be activated duringthe execution phase as needed. The execution phase may be assumed tobegin when transmission of part or all of the supported periodic data bythe vehicular UE begins. Correspondingly, specific SPS configurations,among the previously prepared SPS configurations, are activated in theUE and then used by the vehicular UE to transmit the pending periodicdata. During the execution phase either the message size or theperiodicities of the pending periodic data may change such thatdifferent SPS configurations, among the previously prepared SPSconfigurations, have to be activated in the vehicular UE so as to stillbe able to transmit the periodic data at the different periodicity orwith the different message size(s).

The preparation phase will now be explained in more detail. In order forthe eNodeB to be able to set up suitable SPS configuration(s) for theperiodic data supported by the UE, the eNodeB needs to about theperiodic data that may be transmitted by the vehicular UE in the future.Typically, an SPS configuration allocates in a periodic fashion (i.e.,at periodic time instances) a particular amount of radio resources whichin turn depends on the amount of data that the UE needs to transmit(e.g., the size of the CAM message). Correspondingly, the vehicular UEtransmits information on the periodic data to the eNodeB such that theeNodeB is able to determine the one or more different possibleperiodicities and/or the different possible message sizes that may betransmitted by the vehicular UE in the future. Having learned thisinformation, the eNodeB is then able to configure a plurality ofdifferent SPS configurations in such a way that by later activating oneor more of these SPS configurations for the vehicular UE, the vehicularUE is enabled to actually transmit one or more of the supported periodicdata using the radio resources periodically allocated by the activatedSPS configurations.

After having thus set up the plurality of SPS configurations, the eNodeBprovides corresponding information on the plurality of SPSconfigurations to the vehicular UE, such that the vehicular UE is awareof the plurality of SPS configurations that may be activated in thefuture. The eNodeB and vehicular UE are thus prepared for handling thetransmission of one or more of the supported periodic data.

The execution phase will now be explained in more detail. It is thenassumed that the vehicular UE eventually will want to transmit some orall of the CAM data components, and thus needs the (semi-persistentlyallocated) radio resources to perform the transmission. Correspondingly,the vehicular UE will inform the eNB about which CAM components it wouldlike to transmit, and the eNB in response selects, among thepreviously-prepared SPS configurations, one or more SPS configurationsthat will allocate suitable radio resources to the vehicular UE so as totransmit all of the now-pending CAM components. The eNB will thencorrespondingly activate the selected one or more SPS configurations inthe UE, e.g., by transmitting a suitable activation command.

The vehicular UE correspondingly activates the specific SPSconfigurations as instructed by the eNodeB, and thus can use theperiodic radio resources scheduled by the activated SPS configurationsin order to transmit the pending one or more CAM data components to theother (vehicular) UEs.

As explained above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible toallocate SPS resources to the vehicular UE even though the data to betransmitted by the vehicular UE may have changing periodicities and/orchanging message sizes. Therefore, it is possible to reduce thesignaling overhead on the Uu link between the eNodeB and the UEotherwise necessary to repeatedly perform the dynamic radio resourceallocation (e.g., see ProSe Mode 1 explanations in the backgroundsection) for every SC period. Furthermore, a Buffer Status Report, usedby the vehicular UE to indicate that (periodic) data is pending fortransmittal does not need to be transmitted from the UE to the eNB totrigger the eNB to allocate dynamic resources each time when there isperiodic data coming at UE side.

FIG. 11 exemplary illustrates that three different SPS configurationsare activated to allow transmission of three different CAM components(Certificate, CAM LF component, and CAM HF component) according to anexemplary implementation of the first embodiment. For this exemplaryimplementation of the first embodiment, it is assumed that one SPSconfiguration is configured for one particular CAM data component.Correspondingly, a vehicular UE which wants to transmit the threedifferent CAM components can use the periodic radio resources allocatedby SPS configuration 1 to transmit the CAM HF component, can use theperiodic radio resources allocated by SPS configuration 2 to transmitthe CAM LF component, and can use the periodic radio resources allocatedby SPS configuration 3 to transmit the certificate.

Depending on whether the different CAM components are transmitted in onemessage or in separate messages, the different SPS configurations are tobe combined by the vehicular UE to be able to transmit the largercombined CAM message or may be used separately from one another totransmit the separate CAM messages.

In the following more specific implementations of the first embodimentwill be.

In a broad implementation of the first embodiment, it was simply assumedwithout going into further detail that the vehicular UE would supportthe transmission of periodic data that comprises one or more differentdata components to be transmitted with different possible transmissionperiodicities and/or different possible message sizes. As explainedbefore, the challenge posed for the SPS allocation mechanism of thefirst embodiment is that the transmission of vehicular data involvesdifferent possible periodicities and/or different message sizes. Thiswill be explained in more detail based on the CAM messages introduced inthe background section.

According to one possible exemplary scenario, the vehicular UE supportsthe transmission of several CAM components, e.g., the CAM HF component,CAM LF component, and the security certificate. Correspondingly, thepossible message size differs depending on which CAM components aretransmitted in the CAM message. An overview of the different possiblemessage sizes is given the following table:

TABLE 6 Size of resulting CAM Component CAM message CAM HF component 122bytes (including the header, basic container, signature and digest) CAMHF component + CAM 182 bytes LF component CAM HF component + CAM 299bytes LF component + CAM security certificate CAM HF component + CAM 239bytes security certificate

For the above table it is assumed that different CAM componentstransmitted at the same time instance form one single CAM message suchthat the CAM LF component and the CAM security certificate arerespectively piggybacked to the basic CAM HF component transmitted atthe highest transmission rate. Correspondingly, the message size willvary depending on the time instance as listed on the right-hand columnof the table and as exemplary illustrated in FIG. 11 (due to the assumeddifferent periodicities of the CAM components, FIG. 11 does not show atransmission of the CAM HF component+CAM security certificate; in saidrespect, see FIG. 10 middle part).

The different CAM components are to be transmitted with differentperiodicities, such that each possible CAM message to be transmitted ata particular time instance will have to be transmitted at a differentperiodicity as shown exemplarily in the following table:

TABLE 7 Size of resulting Transmission CAM Component CAM Periodicity CAMHF component 122 bytes Every 100 ms (including the header, basiccontainer, signature and digest) CAM HF component + CAM 182 bytes Every500 ms LF component CAM HF component + CAM 299 bytes Every 1000 ms LFcomponent + CAM security certificate CAM HF component + CAM 239 bytesEvery 1000 ms security certificate

The value of the transmission periodicity assumed above actually relatesto the periodicity of that CAM component in the CAM message with thelowest transmission rate (e.g., 500 ms of the CAM LF component for theCAM message comprising the CAM HF and CAM LF components). The indicatedtransmission periodicity should not be understood as the transmissionperiodicity of the particular CAM message. For example, a CAM messagecomprising the CAM HF and can LF components is not actually transmittedevery 500 ms (but every 1000 ms, see FIG. 11).

The values exemplary assumed in the above table for the transmissionperiodicity, are those assumed for a single vehicle speed range of >144km/h, which is assumed that is the only one supported by the vehicularUE.

According to another possible exemplary scenario, the vehicular UEsupports the transmission of only one CAM component, e.g., the CAM HFcomponent, having thus an expected fixed size of 122 bytes (see abovetable) and an expected fixed periodicity of 100 ms (see above table).However, a special characteristic of V2V data is that the periodicity ofthe different CAM components may vary with the vehicle dynamics, e.g.,the speed with which the vehicular UE is traveling. Therefore, eventhough the vehicular UE supports the transmission of only one CAMcomponent, the periodicity with which the one CAM component is to betransmitted may vary in time resulting again in that severalperiodicities need to be taken into account by the SPS allocationmechanism. This is exemplified in the following table.

TABLE 8 Transmission Transmission Transmission Size of Periodicity atPeriodicity at Periodicity at resulting speed > 144 speed [72, speed[48, 72] CAM Component CAM km/h 144] km/h km/h CAM HF component 122bytes Every 100 ms Every 200 ms Every 300 ms (including the header,basic container, signature and digest)

According to another possible exemplary scenario, the vehicular UEsupports the transmission of various CAM components (e.g., all three CAMcomponents, CAM HF, CAM LF, and security certificate) and in additionshall support several speeds (ranges). The resulting varyingperiodicities and message sizes will become apparent from the belowtable.

TABLE 9 Size of Transmission Transmission Transmission resultingPeriodicity at Periodicity at Periodicity at CAM speed > 144 speed [72,speed [48, 72] CAM Component message km/h 144] km/h km/h CAM HFcomponent 122 bytes Every 100 ms Every 200 ms Every 300 ms (includingthe header, basic container, signature and digest) CAM HF component +182 bytes Every 500 ms Every 600 ms Every 600 ms CAM LF component CAM HFcomponent + 299 bytes Every 1000 ms Every 1000 ms Every 1200 ms CAM LFcomponent + CAM security certificate CAM HF component + 239 bytes Every1000 ms Every 1000 ms Every 1200 ms CAM security certificate

As exemplified above, there may be many different combinations of CAMcomponents (left-hand column of above table), resulting in differentpossible CAM message sizes (e.g., 122 bytes, 182 bytes, 299 bytes, or239 bytes) and resulting in different possible periodicities dependingon the particular CAM component and/or possibly on the supported speed(ranges) for the vehicular UE (e.g., 100 ms, 200 ms, 300 ms, 500 ms, 600ms, 1000 ms, 1200 ms). The SPS configurations configured by the eNB inthe preparation phase need to take this into account and shall match theresulting CAM message transmission periodicities and/or the resultingCAM message sizes supported by the vehicular UE such that suitable SPSconfigurations can be activated later to enable the vehicular UE totransmit any (combination) of the supported periodic data.

Various different SPS configurations are prepared by the eNodeB as willbe exemplified for the above chosen examples. In particular, at first itis assumed for simplicity that the vehicular UE supports thetransmission of several CAM components but only supports one speedrange, e.g., the highest speed range of >144 km/h, such that althoughseveral different periodicities are to be taken into account, theperiodicities themselves do not change over time (e.g., due to a speedchange).

TABLE 10 Size of resulting Transmission SPS CAM Component CAMPeriodicity configurations CAM HF component 122 bytes Every 100 ms SPSconfig 1 (including the header, basic (122 bytes every container,signature and 100 ms) digest) CAM HF component + 182 bytes Every 500 msSPS config 2 CAM LF component (60 bytes every 500 ms) CAM HF component +299 bytes Every 1000 ms SPS config 3 CAM LF component + (117 bytes everyCAM security certificate 1000 ms) CAM HF component + 239 bytes Every1000 ms No separate SPS CAM security certificate config needed

In the above exemplary implementation of the first embodiment, threedifferent SPS configurations 1, 2 and 3 are configured by the eNodeBsuch that there is one separate SPS configuration matching each of thepossible CAM components that the vehicular UE is supported to transmit.It should be noted that for a possible combination of the CAM HFcomponent and the CAM security certificate, no separate SPSconfiguration is needed in this particular example, in view of that thisparticular combination does not happen due to the exemplaryperiodicities assumed for the separate CAM components.

SPS configuration 1 allocates specific radio resources sufficient totransmit the 122 bytes of the basic CAM HF component every 100 ms, whichis the periodicity of the CAM HF component. Correspondingly, the UE willuse the periodic radio resources allocated by SPS configuration 1 inorder to transmit the CAM messages comprising the CAM HF component.

Moreover, SPS configuration 2 allocates specific radio resourcessufficient to transmit the 60 bytes of the additional (piggybacked) CAMLF component every 500 ms, which is the periodicity of the CAM LFcomponent. Correspondingly, the UE will use the periodic radio resourcesallocated by the SPS configuration 2 in order to transmit the CAMmessages comprising the CAM LF component. Furthermore, SPS configuration3 allocates specific radio resources sufficient to transmit the 117bytes of the additional (piggybacked) security certificate every 1000ms, which corresponds to the periodicity of the security certificate.Correspondingly, the UE will use the periodic radio resources allocatedby SPS configuration 3 in order to transmit the CAM messages comprisingthe security certificate.

FIG. 12 illustrates the use of the three SPS configurations asexemplarily assumed above for the transmission of the CAM messages bythe vehicular UE according to an exemplary implementation of the firstembodiment. As apparent from FIG. 12, the three SPS configurations arematching the three different data components to be transmitted by thevehicular UE. The dashed rectangles encompassing the multiple datacomponents to be transmitted at the same time instance shall indicatethat these different data components are transmitted as one CAM message,as exemplarily assumed above. As apparent from FIG. 12, at those timeinstances where several CAM components are to be transmitted within oneCAM message, the vehicular UE combines the radio resources allocated bymultiple SPS configurations so as to have enough radio resourcesavailable to transmit the whole CAM message (i.e., including themultiple CAM components). For instance, when transmitting the CAM HFcomponent together with the CAM LF component, the radio resourcesallocated via SPS configurations 1 and 2 are combined (i.e., summed,used together) to thus have sufficient radio resources available for thetransmission. Similarly, when transmitting the CAM HF component togetherwith the CAM LF component as well as the security certificate, the radioresources allocated via SPS configurations 1, 2 and 3 are combined tothus have sufficient radio resources available to transmit the wholecombined CAM message.

As just explained, the radio resources allocated by the different SPSconfigurations may have to be combined for those time instances wherethe vehicular UE shall transmit the larger combined CAM messages.According to the following alternative implementation of the firstembodiment, this combination of radio resources allocated separately bySPS configurations is no longer necessary. Instead, the separate SPSconfigurations are configured in such a manner that they already takeinto account the resulting size of a single CAM message. In line withthe discussion above, the following table will exemplary illustrate thisalternative implementation of the first embodiment.

TABLE 11 Size of resulting Transmission SPS CAM Component CAMPeriodicity configurations CAM HF component 122 bytes Every 100 ms SPSconfig 1 (including the header, basic (122 bytes every container,signature and 100 ms) digest) CAM HF component + 182 bytes Every 500 msSPS config 2 CAM LF component (182 bytes every 500 ms) CAM HFcomponent + 299 bytes Every 1000 ms SPS config 3 CAM LF component + (299bytes every CAM security certificate 1000 ms) CAM HF component + 239bytes Every 1000 ms No separate SPS CAM security certificate configneeded

As apparent from the table, the SPS configurations are different fromthe previous implementation in that the amount of radio resourcesallocated by the respective SPS configurations is larger, to therebytake into account the larger CAM message size when several CAMcomponents are transmitted in one CAM message.

In correspondence with FIG. 12, FIG. 13 illustrates how the differentSPS configurations are used by the vehicular UE to transmit the periodicCAM data (components). At those time instances at which the vehicular UEshall transmit several CAM components within one CAM message, thevehicular UE shall select that SPS configuration, among the activatedones, providing sufficient radio resources to transmit the larger CAMmessage. As in the previous exemplary implementation of the firstembodiment, the vehicular UE will select SPS configuration 1 in order totransmit the CAM message comprising only the CAM HF component. On theother hand, when transmitting the CAM HF component together with the CAMLF component, radio resources are needed to transmit 182 bytes in totalsuch that the vehicular UE shall select SPS configuration 2 and shalluse the specific radio resources allocated by SPS configuration 2 inorder to transmit said CAM message comprising the CAM HF component aswell as the CAM LF component. Correspondingly, when transmitting the CAMHF component together with the CAM LF component as well as the securitycertificate, radio resources are needed to transmit 299 bytes in totalsuch that the vehicular UE shall select SPS configuration 3. Thevehicular UE will thus use the specific radio resources allocated by SPSconfiguration 3 in order to transmit said CAM message comprising thethree components.

The above discussed implementations of the first embodiment according toFIG. 12 and FIG. 13 can also be applied to more complex cases where thevehicular UE also supports several speed ranges, e.g., the three assumedspeed ranges of >144, between 72 and 144, and between 48 and 72,resulting in additional different periodicities that shall be supportedfor the respective CAM components.

The following table is assuming that the radio resources allocated bythe different SPS configurations can be combined by the vehicular UE tocollect sufficient radio resources to be able to transmit the combinedCAM messages comprising several data components (see discussion for FIG.12).

TABLE 12 SPS SPS SPS Size of configurations configurationsconfigurations CAM resulting Transmission for speed > 144 for speed [72,for speed [48, Component CAM Periodicity km/h 144] km/h 72] km/h CAM HF122 bytes Every 100 ms SPS config 1 SPS config 4 SPS config 7 componentEvery 200 ms (122 bytes (122 bytes (122 bytes (including Every 300 msevery 100 ms) every 200 ms) every 300 ms) the header, basic container,signature and digest) CAM HF 182 bytes Every 500 ms SPS config 2 SPSconfig 5 SPS config 8 component + Every 600 ms (60 bytes every (60 bytesevery (60 bytes every CAM LF 500 ms) 600 ms) 600 ms) component CAM HF299 bytes Every 1000 ms SPS config 3 SPS config 6 SPS config 9component + Every 1200 ms (117 bytes (117 bytes (117 bytes CAM LF every1000 ms) every 1000 ms) every 1200 ms) component + CAM securitycertificate CAM HF 239 bytes Every 1000 ms No separate No separate Noseparate component + Every 1200 ms SPS config SPS config SPS config CAMneeded needed needed security certificate

As apparent from the above table, it is assumed that the eNodeB in thepreparation phase configures 9 separate SPS configurations respectivelyallocating radio resources with a suitable periodicity so as to enablethe vehicle UE, upon later activating one or more SPS configurations, totransmit the corresponding CAM components in a periodic fashion.

Depending on the current speed of the vehicular UE, the eNodeB willconfigure the vehicular UE to have either activated the SPSconfigurations 1, 2 and 3 when the speed is >144 km/h, or have activatedthe SPS configurations 4, 5 and 6 when the speed is between 72 and 144km/h, or have activated the SPS configurations 7, 8 and 9 when the speedis between 48 and 72 km/h.

FIG. 14 illustrates how the 9 separate SPS configurations could be usedby the vehicular UE to periodically transmit CAM messages of differentsizes. The upper part of FIG. 14 (i.e., referring to a speed of >144km/h) basically corresponds to FIG. 12 and thus will not be explainedagain. For a speed range between 72 and 144 km/h, FIG. 14 illustrateshow the vehicular UE combines the radio resources allocated by theactivated SPS configuration 4, 5, and 6 so as to be able to transmit theCAM messages of different sizes. In particular, a CAM message composedof the CAM HF component as well as the CAM LF component may betransmitted by the vehicular UE by combining the radio resourcesallocated by SPS configurations 4 and 5. A CAM message composed of allthree components (CAM HF, CAM LF, security certificate) can betransmitted by the vehicular UE by combining and using the radioresources allocated by SPS configurations 4, 5 and 6. A CAM messagecomposed of the CAM HF component as well as the security certificate canbe transmitted by the vehicular UE by combining and using the radioresources allocated by SPS configurations 4 and 6.

For a speed range between 48 and 72 km/h, FIG. 14 illustrates how thevehicular UE combines the radio resources allocated by the activated SPSconfigurations 7, 8, and 9 to be able to transmit the CAM messages ofdifferent sizes. In particular, a CAM message composed of the CAM HFcomponent as well as the CAM LF component may be transmitted by thevehicular UE by combining the radio resources allocated by SPSconfigurations 7 and 8. A CAM message composed of all three components(CAM HF, CAM LF, security certificate) can be transmitted by thevehicular UE by combining and using the radio resources allocated by SPSconfigurations 7, 8 and 9.

In the following, the alternative implementation of the first embodimentexplained in connection with FIG. 13 will now be also extended to avehicular UE that supports several speed ranges.

TABLE 13 SPS SPS SPS Size of configurations configurationsconfigurations CAM resulting Transmission for speed > 144 for speed [72,for speed [48, Component CAM Periodicity km/h 144] km/h 72] km/h CAM HF122 bytes Every 100 ms SPS config 1 SPS config 4 SPS config 8 componentEvery 200 ms (122 bytes (122 bytes (122 bytes (including Every 300 msevery 100 ms) every 200 ms) every 300 ms) the header, basic container,signature and digest) CAM HF 182 bytes Every 500 ms SPS config 2 SPSconfig 5 SPS config 9 component + Every 600 ms (182 bytes (182 bytes(182 bytes CAM LF every 500 ms) every 600 ms) every 600 ms) componentCAM HF 299 bytes Every 1000 ms SPS config 3 SPS config 6 SPS config 10component + Every 1200 ms (299 bytes (299 bytes (299 bytes CAM LF every1000 ms) every 1000 ms) every 1200 ms) component + CAM securitycertificate CAM HF 239 bytes Every 1000 ms No separate SPS config 7 Noseparate component + Every 1200 ms SPS config (239 bytes SPS config CAMneeded every 1000 ms) needed security certificate

FIG. 15 illustrates the corresponding usage of the different SPSconfigurations by the vehicular UE in order to transmit the variouspossible CAM messages. The upper part of FIG. 15 (referring to a speedof >144 km/h) basically corresponds to FIG. 13 and thus will not beexplained again. In order to support the transmission of all possibleCAM components for a speed range between 72 and 144 km/h, four differentSPS configurations are configured by the eNodeB. Unlike the scenario forthe speed range of >144 km/h, the vehicular UE indeed has to transmit aCAM message composed of a CAM HF component and a CAM securitycertificate. In this alternative implementation of the first embodiment,the eNodeB has to thus configure a separate SPS configuration for thispossible CAM message, i.e., SPS configuration 7 allocating specificradio resources sufficient to transport 239 bytes every 1000 ms. ThisSPS configuration 7 was not necessary in the previous implementation ofthe first embodiment, since the radio resources of SPS configurations 4and 6 could be flexibly combined so as to allocate sufficient (but nottoo many) resources for transmitting the CAM message composed of the CAMHF component as well as the security certificate (see FIG. 14).

As repeatedly mentioned, several SPS configurations are prepared by theeNodeB to support the different possible speed ranges at which the UEmay travel (as an example of the vehicle dynamics which influence theperiodicity of the various CAM data components). In such a scenario, theeNB also needs to be informed on the possible speed ranges supported bythe vehicular UE, since these will influence the different periodicitiesthat are to be taken into account when preparing the plurality of SPSconfiguration. One option is to transmit explicit information on thespeed ranges that are supported by the vehicular UE to the eNB, e.g.,together or separate from the information on the periodic data, so as toenable the eNB to determine therefrom the resulting differentperiodicities of the periodic data components that need to be consideredwhen preparing the plurality of SPS configurations. Another option isthat the vehicular UE transmits already the various possibleperiodicities which comprise also periodicities at the supported speedranges, such that it is not necessary for the UE to additionally informthe eNB on the supported speed ranges; the eNB might deduce thesupported speed ranges from the reported different periodicities,assuming that the eNB has access to particular information allowing thisassociation to be made, such as standardized definitions for theperiodicities of CAM messages and components at different speed ranges.

Furthermore, when the UE would like to actually start transmitting theperiodic data, the UE shall inform the eNB about its current speed (orabout the speed range it is in), such that the eNB may select andactivate those SPS configurations prepared for that indicated speedrange currently experienced by the vehicular UE. The information on thecurrent speed could for example be transmitted by the vehicular UEtogether with or separate from the indication which data components thevehicular UE would like to transmit. For example, an exemplaryimplementation of the first embodiment provides that this indication isthe buffer status report indicating that for particular logical channelgroups data is pending in the corresponding buffer in the UE.Correspondingly, the information on the current speed of the vehicle UEcould be transmitted within the buffer status report too.

Furthermore, as mentioned before, the periodicities of CAM datacomponents may be dependent on vehicle dynamics, such as the speed,which however may change over time. Further implementations of the firstembodiment thus allow to change the activated SPS configurationsdepending on the current vehicle dynamics (e.g., speed of the vehicleUE). In said respect, the vehicle UE may monitor its own speed and maydetermine whether the speed range has changed compared to the speedrange it was previously in. In that case, the vehicular UE may informthe eNodeB about this change of speed range. Alternatively, thevehicular UE may regularly transmit information on its current speed tothe eNodeB such that the eNodeB itself may determine when a particularvehicular UE changes the speed range relevant for the SPSconfigurations. In any case, the change of speed range may thus triggerthe eNodeB to select and activate different SPS configurations preparedfor that indicated speed range instead of the previously activated SPSconfigurations. The vehicular UE, receiving such an activation commandfor the changed SPS configurations, will no longer use the previouslyactivated SPS configurations, but will use the newly activated SPSconfigurations.

According to another alternative implementation of the first embodiment,instead of transmitting the current speed or the current changed speedrange to the eNodeB, the vehicular UE, when determining that it haschanged a particular speed range, may actually identify thecorresponding SPS configurations that are needed for that changed speedrange, and may transmit a request to the eNodeB to use these new SPSconfigurations due to the change of the speed range. In turn, the eNodeBreceives this request and may decide on whether it shall follow therequest or not. Correspondingly, it may determine that a change of theSPS configurations is in order, and thus it correspondingly transmits aresponse to the request so as to activate the requested SPSconfigurations. The vehicular UE will thus no longer use the previouslyactivated SPS configurations, but will use now the newly activated SPSconfigurations.

When changing the SPS configurations in the vehicular UE as justexplained due to a change of the vehicle dynamics (e.g., speed),according to one possible implementation of the first embodiment, thevehicular UE may always start by transmitting all of the CAM components(i.e., a CAM message comprising all CAM components) in order to avoidthat some of the components are not transmitted due to a frequent changeof speed and thus a frequent a change of the SPS configurations.

As explained above, the vehicular UE transmits to the eNB information onthe supported periodic data that the vehicular UE might have to transmitin the future. As will be explained in detail with reference to thefollowing implementations of the first embodiment, this may beimplemented in various manners. According to an exemplary implementationof the first embodiment, the vehicular UE may inform the eNodeBexplicitly about the different possible periodicities and/or differentpossible message sizes of the CAM messages/components that the vehicularUE supports and thus may have to actually transmit in the future. Forexample, the information on the periodic data may thus include a list ofpossible periodicities and/or of possible CAM message sizes that aresupported by the vehicular UE. The eNodeB is thus able to preparesuitable SPS configurations for the various different supportedperiodicities and/or message sizes.

According to variants of this implementation of the first embodiment,the information on the periodic data may be transmitted in one messageor in at least two separate messages. In particular, the information onthe possible periodicities and the possible message sizes may betransmitted within one message, for instance a message which is based onthe SidelinkUEInformation message currently specified in the standardsto indicate sidelink information to the eNodeB (e.g., the frequency onwhich the UE is interested to transmit sidelink communication as well asthe sidelink communication transmission destinations for which the UErequests to be assigned dedicated resources) (see 3GPP standard TS36.331 v13.0.0 section 6.2.2, incorporated herein by reference). InFIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C, an exemplary extended SidelinkUEInformationmessage according to this implementation of the first embodiment isdefined.

The additional elements exemplarily introduced into theSidelinkUEInformation message of this implementation of the firstembodiment are bold and also framed in FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C. Asapparent therefrom, there is a periodicity field allowing to indicatevarious different periodicities, such as the ones mentioned above forthe CAM messages. Similarly, a message size field is provided whichallows to indicate various different message sizes, respectively with avalue between 1 and 300 bytes. Optionally, a traffic type field allowsthe UE to inform the eNodeB on whether the data is periodic ornonperiodic.

Alternatively, instead of indicating the message size(s) together withthe possible periodicities, according to a further variant of the firstembodiment, the message size (i.e., the amount of data the UE wants totransmit) is transmitted together with the Buffer Status Report, whichindicates that data is pending for being transmitted by the vehicularUE. In this case, in one example in the preparation phase the eNodeBwill only receive information on the possible different periodicitiesbut no information on the possible different message sizes, and willthus proceed to prepare different SPS configurations based on theinformation of the possible different periodicities. For instance, theplurality of SPS configurations prepared by the eNodeB would bedifferent as to the periodicities, but would not be specific as to whichand how many radio resources would be allocated by the SPSconfiguration. Then, at the time at which the vehicular UE actuallywants to start transmitting one or more of the possible data components,the corresponding buffer(s) will be filled, thus triggering a bufferstatus report to be transmitted to the eNodeB and on which basis theeNodeB may actually determine the amount of data that the UE would liketo transmit for the one or more possible data components. In response,the eNodeB would select and activate the corresponding suitable SPSconfigurations (with the corresponding suitable periodicities), andwould then activate the selected SPS configuration(s) for the vehicularUE while at the same time indicating, for each activated SPSconfiguration, which resources are allocated by the respective activatedSPS configuration.

Put differently, unlike previously explained in connection with FIGS. 11to 15, in this particular variant of the first embodiment the eNodeBdoes not already specify the radio resources (for example, SPSconfiguration 1 defining radio resources sufficient to transmit 122bytes) but only specifies the periodicities. For example, the eNodeBmight prepare an SPS configuration 1 for supporting transmittal of theCAM HF component by the vehicular UE with a periodicity of 100 ms(assuming a speed range of >144 km/h); similarly also for the other SPSconfigurations. For the scenario assumed for FIG. 12, the eNodeB wouldthus also prepare three different SPS configurations, namelyrespectively for the three periodicities of every 100 ms, 500 ms, and1000 ms. For the scenario assumed for FIG. 14, the eNodeB would preparenine different SPS configurations, respectively three for each speedrange.

According to another exemplary implementation of the first embodiment,the vehicular UE may inform the eNodeB on the particular data componentsthat the vehicular UE is supported to transmit in addition or instead oftransmitting information on the different possible transmissionperiodicities and/or different possible message sizes. For example, theinformation on the periodic data may thus include a list identifying thedata components which the vehicular UE is supported to transmit in thefuture. The eNodeB has access to information about the possibleperiodicities and message sizes that are associated with theseidentified data components; for instance, the 3GPP standardization mayexplicitly define sizes and periodicities for the different possibleCAMs and their components. In this manner, the eNodeB is thus able toprepare suitable SPS configurations for the various different supportedperiodicities and/or message sizes.

Although not specified in detail above, the activation commandtransmitted by the eNodeB to the vehicular UE to activate the selectedSPS configurations may be exemplarily implemented as a messagetransmitted via the PDCCH, physical downlink control channel. Forinstance, in a similar manner as for the currently specified SPSmechanism, the eNodeB may transmit one or more DCIs to activate one ormore of the previously configured SPS configurations. In one example, anew C-RNTI might be used for DCIs for sidelink activation/deactivation,since UE needs to know that the DCIs are for sidelink SPS, not for UuSPS or Uu link dynamic allocation. As mentioned above, for particularimplementations of the first embodiment, the PDCCH message may alsoidentify the particular radio resources which the UE is supposed to usefor the activated SPS configuration(s).

Although not specified in detail above, the eNodeB, after havingdetermined the plurality of SPS configurations, shall inform the UEabout the plurality of SPS configurations. This may for instance beimplemented as an RRC message, such as sps-ConfigSidelink inradioResourceConfigDedicated message. The current SPS configuration forUu link is transmitted in the radioResourceConfigDedicated message. Toindicate the SPS configurations for sidelink, a new element could becreated as sps-ConfigSidelink, which could be also transmitted inradioResourceConfigDedicated message. As explained above, the pluralityof SPS configurations configured by the eNodeB in the preparation phasecould for instance identify both the periodicity and radio resources, ormay only identify the periodicity (where the radio resources could thenbe identified together with the activation command transmitted from theeNodeB to the UE).

Although the implementations of the first embodiment have been explainedon the basis of V2V and a vehicular UE in communication with othervehicle UEs via the sidelink connection, the underlying principles ofthe first embodiment could also be applied for transmitting vehiculardata between a vehicular UE and for instance the eNodeB via the Uuinterface or between a vehicular UE and Road Side Unit via, e.g., PC5interface.

Furthermore, although the implementations of the first embodiment havebeen explained on the basis of a vehicular UE, the underlying principlesof the first embodiment could also be performed by “normal” UEs that arein communication with the eNB or with other “normal” or vehicular UEsvia sidelink connection(s).

Hardware and Software Implementation of the Present Disclosure

Other exemplary embodiments relate to the implementation of the abovedescribed various embodiments using hardware, software, or software incooperation with hardware. In this connection a user terminal (mobileterminal) is provided. The user terminal is adapted to perform themethods described herein, including corresponding entities toparticipate appropriately in the methods, such as receiver, transmitter,processors.

It is further recognized that the various embodiments may be implementedor performed using computing devices (processors). A computing device orprocessor may for example be general purpose processors, digital signalprocessors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices,etc. The various embodiments may also be performed or embodied by acombination of these devices. In particular, each functional block usedin the description of each embodiment described above can be realized byan LSI as an integrated circuit. They may be individually formed aschips, or one chip may be formed so as to include a part or all of thefunctional blocks. They may include a data input and output coupledthereto. The LSI here may be referred to as an IC, a system LSI, a superLSI, or an ultra LSI depending on a difference in the degree ofintegration. However, the technique of implementing an integratedcircuit is not limited to the LSI and may be realized by using adedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. In addition, a FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after themanufacture of the LSI or a reconfigurable processor in which theconnections and the settings of circuits cells disposed inside the LSIcan be reconfigured may be used.

Further, the various embodiments may also be implemented by means ofsoftware modules, which are executed by a processor or directly inhardware. Also a combination of software modules and a hardwareimplementation may be possible. The software modules may be stored onany kind of computer readable storage media, for example RAM, EPROM,EEPROM, flash memory, registers, hard disks, CD-ROM, DVD, etc. It shouldbe further noted that the individual features of the differentembodiments may individually or in arbitrary combination be subjectmatter to another embodiment.

It would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerousvariations and/or modifications may be made to the present disclosure asshown in the specific embodiments. The present embodiments are,therefore, to be considered in all respects to be illustrative and notrestrictive.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent applicationpublications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patentapplications and non-patent publications referred to in thisspecification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet areincorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of theembodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of thevarious patents, applications and publications to provide yet furtherembodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A vehicular mobile terminal fortransmitting periodic data to one or more receiving entities, thevehicular mobile terminal comprising: a transmitter, which, inoperation, transmits, to a radio base station, information on theperiodic data including information related to vehicle parameterssupported by the vehicular mobile terminal, the information on thevehicle parameters usable by the radio base station to determinedifferent possible transmission periodicities of one or more datacomponents of the periodic data, in response to one of the vehicleparameters in a previous value range changing to be in a different valuerange, transmits, to the radio base station, information related to thechanged vehicle parameter, and indicates, to the radio base station,that the one or more data components of the periodic data are availableto be transmitted from the vehicular mobile terminal to the one or morereceiving entities; and a receiver, which, in operation, receives, fromthe radio base station, a plurality of semi-persistent radio resourceconfigurations configured by the radio base station based on theinformation on the periodic data, each of the plurality ofsemi-persistent radio resource configurations usable to transmit atleast one of the one or more data components of the periodic data,receives, from the radio base station, an activation command to activateone or more of the plurality of semi-persistent radio resourceconfigurations, selected by the radio base station based on theinformation related to the changed vehicle parameter, to periodicallyallocate radio resources used to transmit the one or more datacomponents of the periodic data, wherein the transmitter, in operation,transmits, to the one or more receiving entities, the one or more datacomponents of the periodic data using the allocated radio resources andusing the transmission periodicity defined by the activated one or moresemi-persistent radio resource configurations.
 2. The vehicular mobileterminal according to claim 1, wherein the information on the periodicdata includes at least one of: information on a message size of at leastone data component of the periodic data, which is transmitted togetherwith a buffer status report, or information on the one or more datacomponents.
 3. The vehicular mobile terminal according to claim 1,wherein the information on the periodic data is transmitted within onemessage, or the information on the periodic data is transmitted withinat least two separate messages, wherein information on the differentpossible periodicities is transmitted within a first message andinformation on a message size of at least one data component of theperiodic data is transmitted together with a buffer status report. 4.The vehicular mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein each of theplurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurations identifies:radio resources and a periodicity suitable for transmitting at least oneof the one or more data components of the periodic data, wherein theplurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurations are receivedin a message of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, or aperiodicity for transmitting at least one of the one or more datacomponents of the periodic data, wherein information on the radioresources usable by the vehicular mobile terminal to transmit at leastone of the one or more data components of the periodic data is receivedtogether with the activation command in a message via a PhysicalDownlink Control Channel (PDCCH).
 5. The vehicular mobile terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein the data components, to be transmitted atthe same time instance, are either transmitted as one message or asseparate messages.
 6. The vehicular mobile terminal according to claim1, wherein the receiving entities comprise other vehicular ornon-vehicular mobile terminals and the periodic data are transmitted viaa sidelink connection, and/or the receiving entities comprise the radiobase station and the periodic data are transmitted via a radioconnection.
 7. The vehicular mobile terminal according to claim 1,wherein the plurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurationsare configured such that there is one semi-persistent radio resourceconfiguration for each data component with a specific message size and aspecific transmission periodicity.
 8. The vehicular mobile terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein the vehicle parameters include a speedparameter.
 9. The vehicular mobile terminal according to claim 1,wherein the data components, transmitted at the same time instance, aretransmitted as one message, and the plurality of semi-persistent radioresource configurations are configured such that there is onesemi-persistent radio resource configuration for each possible messagecomprising one or more of the data components to be transmitted by thevehicular mobile terminal.
 10. A radio base station for allocating radioresources to a vehicular mobile terminal to transmit periodic data toone or more receiving entities, the radio base station comprising: areceiver, which, in operation, receives from the vehicular mobileterminal, information on the periodic data including information onvehicle parameters supported by the vehicular mobile terminal, theinformation on the vehicle parameters usable by the radio base stationto determine different possible transmission periodicities of one ormore data components of the periodic data, information related to one ofthe vehicle parameters in a previous value range changing to be in adifferent value range, and an indication that the one or more datacomponents of the periodic data are available to be transmitted from thevehicular mobile terminal to the one or more receiving entities, and aprocessor, which is coupled to the receiver and which, in operation,derives the transmission periodicities of the one or more datacomponents from the information on the periodic data, configures aplurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurations based on thetransmission periodicities each of the plurality of semi-persistentradio resource configurations usable for the vehicular mobile terminalto transmit at least one of the one or more data components of theperiodic data, and selects, based on the information related to thechanged vehicle parameter, one or more among the plurality ofsemi-persistent radio resource configurations to be activated toperiodically allocate radio resources for the vehicular mobile terminalto transmit the one or more data components of the periodic data; and atransmitter, which is coupled to the processor and which, in operation,transmits, to the vehicular mobile terminal, information on theplurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurations, and anactivation command to activate the selected one or more semi-persistentradio resource configurations for the vehicular mobile terminal.
 11. Theradio base station according to claim 10, wherein the information on theperiodic data includes at least one of: information on a message size ofat least one data component of the periodic data, which is receivedtogether with a buffer status report from the vehicular mobile terminal,or information on the one or more data components.
 12. The radio basestation according to claim 10, wherein each of the plurality ofsemi-persistent radio resource configurations identifies: radioresources and a periodicity suitable for transmitting at least one ofthe one or more data components of the periodic data, wherein theplurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurations aretransmitted in a message of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, ora periodicity for transmitting at least one of the one or more datacomponents of the periodic data, wherein information on the radioresources usable by the vehicular mobile terminal to transmit at leastone of the one or more data components of the periodic data istransmitted together with the activation command by the transmitter in amessage via a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).
 13. The radiobase station according to claim 10, wherein the plurality ofsemi-persistent radio resource configurations are configured such thatthere is one semi-persistent radio resource configuration for each datacomponent with a specific message size and specific transmissionperiodicity.
 14. The radio base station according to claim 10, whereinthe vehicle parameters include a speed parameter.
 15. A method performedby a vehicular mobile terminal to transmit periodic data to one or morereceiving entities, the method comprising: transmitting, to a radio basestation, information on the periodic data including information onvehicle parameters supported by the vehicular mobile terminal, theinformation on the vehicle parameters usable by the radio base stationto determine different possible transmission periodicities of one ormore data components of the periodic data; receiving, from the radiobase station, a plurality of semi-persistent radio resourceconfigurations configured by the radio base station based on theinformation on the periodic data, each of the plurality ofsemi-persistent radio resource configurations usable for the vehicularmobile terminal to transmit at least one of the one or more datacomponents of the periodic data; indicating, to the radio base station,that the one or more data components of the periodic data are availableto be transmitted from the vehicular mobile terminal to the one or morereceiving entities; in response to one of the vehicle parameters in aprevious value range changing to be in a different value range,transmitting, to the radio base station, information related to thechanged vehicle parameter; receiving, from the radio base station, anactivation command to activate one or more of the plurality ofsemi-persistent radio resource configurations, selected by the radiobase station based on the information related to the changed parameter,to periodically allocate radio resources used to transmit the one ormore data components of the periodic data; and transmitting, to the oneor more receiving entities, the one or more data components of theperiodic data using the allocated radio resources and using thetransmission periodicity defined by the activated one or moresemi-persistent radio resource configurations.
 16. A method performed bya radio base station to allocate radio resources to a vehicular mobileterminal to transmit periodic data from the vehicular mobile terminal toone or more receiving entities, the method comprising: receiving, fromthe vehicular mobile terminal, information on the periodic dataincluding information on vehicle parameters supported by the vehicularmobile terminal, the information on the vehicle parameters usable by theradio base station to determine different possible transmissionperiodicities of one or more data components of the periodic data;deriving the transmission periodicities of the one or more datacomponents from the information on the periodic data; configuring aplurality of semi-persistent radio resource configurations based on thetransmission periodicities, each of the plurality of semi-persistentradio resource configurations usable for the vehicular mobile terminalto transmit at least one of the one or more data components of theperiodic data; transmitting, to the vehicular mobile terminal,information on the plurality of semi-persistent radio resourceconfigurations; receiving, from the vehicular mobile terminal, anindication that the one or more data components of the periodic data areavailable to be transmitted from the vehicular mobile terminal to theone or more receiving entities; receiving from the vehicular mobileterminal, information related to one of the vehicle parameters in aprevious value range changing to be in a different value range;selecting, based on the information related to the changed vehicleparameter, one or more among the plurality of semi-persistent radioresource configurations to be activated to periodically allocate radioresources for the vehicular mobile terminal to transmit the one or moredata components of the periodic data; and transmitting, to the vehicularmobile terminal, an activation command to activate the selected one ormore semi-persistent radio resource configurations for the vehicularmobile terminal.